The Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits in establishing that the Government has used its power to silence the opposition. Opposition to COVID-19 vaccines; opposition to COVID-19 masking and lockdowns; opposition to the lab-leak theory of COVID-19; opposition to the validity of the 2020 election; opposition to President Biden’s policies; statements that the Hunter Biden laptop story was true; and opposition to policies of the government officials in power. All were suppressed. It is quite telling that each example or category of suppressed speech was conservative in nature. This targeted suppression of conservative ideas is a perfect example of viewpoint discrimination of political speech. American citizens have the right to engage in free debate about the significant issues affecting the country.

Although this case is still relatively young, and at this stage the Court is only examining it in terms of Plaintiffs’ likelihood of success on the merits, the evidence produced thus far depicts an almost dystopian scenario. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a period perhaps best characterized by widespread doubt and uncertainty, the United States Government seems to have assumed a role similar to an Orwellian “Ministry of Truth.”721

The Plaintiffs have presented substantial evidence in support of their claims that they were the victims of a far-reaching and widespread censorship campaign. This court finds that they are likely to succeed on the merits of their First Amendment free speech claim against the Defendants. Therefore, a preliminary injunction should issue immediately against the Defendants as set out herein.

The preliminary injunction order prohibits nearly all of the federal government, including DHS, DOJ, and HHS from: pic.twitter.com/1NrFSjRdcd

— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) July 4, 2023

(via Twitchy)

[I’ll probably have more on this tomorrow when I can take some time to read through all of the text. The conclusion is a shot across the Blobocracy’s bow, however, and the trial might be even more fiery than we imagined. Essentially, Judge Terry Doughty has broken all of the communications links between government agencies and media platforms, and hopefully they stay broken. UPDATE: I’ve posted this on the main blog with some limited spot analysis. More to come, surely. — Ed]