New court ruling may hinder federal information sharing efforts, experts warn – By Chris Riotta (Nextgov) / July 5, 2023
Security experts warned that a federal ruling barring the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and others from contacting social media sites about key issues may have implications that go far beyond First Amendment-protected speech.
A recent federal court order barring contacts between dozens of senior federal officials and social media companies on matters related to protected speech could chill efforts underway to forge public-private information sharing initiatives on cybersecurity threats, security experts told Nextgov/FCW.
A federal judge in Louisiana issued an injunction on Tuesday in response to a lawsuit from two Republican state attorneys general that restricts the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency — along with its director, Jen Easterly — from working with or asking companies like YouTube and Facebook about content on their platforms considered protected by the First Amendment.
The injunction also names officials at the White House, the FBI, the Justice Department, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and more, and additionally restricts those federal entities from working with academic research groups like the Stanford Internet Observatory and the Election Integrity Partnership.
