The US Supreme Court has ruled that the government can continue communicating with researchers and social-media platforms in an effort to reduce misinformation on subjects such as elections and vaccines. The decision stops short of declaring that such activities are protected as free speech under the US Constitution, but it nonetheless represents a win for researchers who continue to face lawsuits alleging that they worked with the government to suppress conservative opinions.
“This ruling is a major victory for independent research,” says Rebekah Tromble, who leads the Institute for Data, Democracy and Politics at George Washington University in Washington DC. “In rejecting the conspiracy theories at the heart of the case, the Supreme Court demonstrated that facts do still matter.”
Read the full article in Nature.