Social media companies suspended Donald J. Trump, then the president, and many of his allies from the platforms they had used to spread misinformation about his defeat and whip up the attempt to overturn it.
The Biden administration, Democrats in Congress and even some Republicans sought to do more to hold the companies accountable.
Mr. Trump and his allies embarked instead on a counteroffensive, a coordinated effort to block what they viewed as a dangerous effort to censor conservatives.
Waged in the courts, in Congress and in the seething precincts of the internet, that effort has eviscerated attempts to shield elections from disinformation in the social media era.
It tapped into — and then, critics say, twisted — the fierce debate over free speech and the government’s role in policing content.
Persons:
Donald J, Trump, Biden
Organizations:
Social
Locations:
Jan, Washington, Congress