Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/23-411_3dq3.pdf
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12 

MURTHY v. MISSOURI 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

are.”  Ibid.  Apparently,  the  White  House  had  not  gotten
everything it wanted from those private conversations, so it
was turning up the heat in public. 

Facebook responded by telling the press that it had part-
nered with the White House to counter misinformation and 
that  it  had  “removed  accounts  that  repeatedly  break  the 
rules” and “more than 18 million pieces of COVID misinfor-
mation.”  78 Record 25174.  But at another press briefing 
the  next  day,  Psaki  said  these  efforts  were  “[c]learly  not”
sufficient  and  expressed  confidence  that  Facebook  would
“make decisions about additional steps they can take.”  See 
id., at 25175; Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki
(July 16, 2021).12 

That same day, President Biden told reporters that social
media platforms were “ ‘killing people’ ” by allowing COVID-
related  misinformation  to  circulate.    78  Record  25174, 
25212.  At oral argument, the Government suggested that 
the President later disclaimed any desire to hold the plat-
forms accountable for misinformation, Tr. of Oral Arg. 34–
35, but that is not so.  The President’s so-called clarification, 
like many other statements by Government officials, called 
on  “ ‘Facebook’ ”  to  “ ‘do  something  about  the  misinfor-
mation’ ” on its platform.  B. Klein, M. Vazquez, & K. Col-
lins, Biden Backs Away From His Claim That Facebook Is
‘Killing People’ by Allowing COVID Misinformation, CNN 
(July 19, 2021).13 

And far from disclaiming potential regulatory action, the
White House confirmed that it had not “ ‘taken any options 
off the table.’ ”  Ibid.  In fact, the day after the President’s 
supposed  clarification,  the  White  House  Communications
Director commended the President for “speak[ing] very ag-
gressively”  and  affirmed  that  platforms  “certainly  . . . 
—————— 

12 https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/07/

16/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-july-16-2021. 

13 https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/19/politics/joe-biden-facebook/index 

.html.