Can the Government Pressure Private Companies to Stifle Speech?

On March 18, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Murthy v. Missouri and NRA v. Vullo—two cases in which government officials allegedly pressured private companies to target disfavored viewpoints. Alex Abdo of the Knight First Amendment Institute and David Greene of the Electronic Frontier Foundation join Jeffrey Rosen to break down both cases. Together they discuss the state action doctrine, explore the line between coercion and persuasion, and interrogate the tension between government speech and private speech.    Resources:  Murthy v. Missouri (oral argument via C-SPAN; transcript)  NRA v. Vullo (oral argument via C-SPAN; transcript)  Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan (1963)  Alex Abdo, Brief in Support of Neither Party, Murthy v. Missouri  David Greene, Brief in Support of Neither Party, Murthy v. Missouri  David Greene and Karen Gullo, “Lawmakers: Ban TikTok to Stop Election Misinformation! Same Lawmakers: Restrict How Government Addresses Election Misinformation!,” EFF (March 15, 2024)    Questions or comments about the show? Email us at [email protected].   Continue today’s conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr.  Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly.   You can find transcripts for each episode on the podcast pages in our Media Library.