What better birthday gift could America get on Independence Day than a judicial order that dismantles an “Orwellian Ministry of Truth”? Federal judge Terry Doughty used that description of the massive censorship regime between the executive branch and social-media platforms in issuing an injunction to derail it. 

In his memorandum, the Louisiana judge noted that the supposed effort to combat “misinformation” turned into a political silencing project. “It is quite telling that each example or category of suppressed speech was conservative in nature,” Doughty ruled. “This targeted suppression of conservative ideas is a perfect example of viewpoint discrimination of political speech.”

“Americans have the right to engage in free debate about the significant issues affecting the country,” Doughty concluded. The First Amendment makes it patently clear that government has no business regulating and censoring public debate and dissent. That’s one of the key values and liberties we celebrated the day Doughty issued the injunction.

Happy Birthday, America!