That exchange — one of dozens between officials and executives at Facebook, Google, Twitter and other social media companies that have spilled into public — is at the heart of a partisan legal battle that could disrupt the Biden administration’s already struggling efforts to combat disinformation. The attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana, both Republicans, have sued the White House and dozens of officials like Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert, accusing them of forcing the platforms to stifle the voices of its political critics in violation of the constitutional guarantee of free speech. Government officials have long urged social media companies to fight illegal or harmful content online, especially when it comes to terrorism or other criminal activity, like child sexual abuse or human trafficking. The attorneys general, though, accuse the Biden administration of taking the effort too far. Their claims reflect a narrative that has taken root among conservatives that the nation’s social media companies have joined with government officials to discriminate against them, despite evidence showing the contrary — in Twitter’s case, for example, from its own study in 2021 of how political accounts were promoted.

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Persons: Biden administration’s, Dr, Anthony S, Biden Organizations: Facebook, Google, Twitter, Biden, White Locations: Missouri, Louisiana