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The Reddit Files
Partly confirmed

Court Record: Reddit Attended FBI/CISA Meetings and Took Part in EIP

The July 4, 2023 ruling in Missouri v. Biden found that Reddit was among the platforms in a CISA-run industry working group with the FBI, held bilateral meetings with the FBI, and was among the platforms that took part in the Election Integrity Partnership. The Supreme Court later reversed the resulting injunction on standing grounds and did not decide whether coercion occurred.

Jul 4, 2023
Whose side it served: Democrats

The government contacts occurred mostly under the Biden administration (and in 2020 under Trump-era agencies), and the targeted 'misinformation' themes were mostly associated with the right.

What the record shows

Judge Terry Doughty's findings of fact list 'Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, Google/YouTube, Reddit, LinkedIn, and sometimes the Wikipedia Foundation' as attendees of industry meetings where officials raised concerns about disinformation and platforms reported 'the actions they are taking.' The ruling says the FBI's Elvis Chan hosted bilateral meetings with platforms including Reddit, focused partly on possible 'hack and dump' operations. It lists Reddit among platforms that 'participated in the EIP,' which processed 639 tickets in 2020, with platforms acting on 35% of reported URLs. The ruling also states, based on plaintiffs' evidence, that 'Reddit removed links' to the Great Barrington Declaration. On June 26, 2024, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Murthy v. Missouri that the plaintiffs lacked standing.

In their words

“The social-media platforms attending the industry meetings include Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, Google/YouTube, Reddit”— Judge Terry A. Doughty, Missouri v. Biden memorandum ruling · source
“We begin—and end—with standing.”— Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Murthy v. Missouri majority · source
The other side

Attending meetings and receiving reports is documented; the record does not show that Reddit removed specific content because the government demanded it. The Supreme Court majority found the plaintiffs failed to trace their moderation to government pressure, while Justice Alito's dissent argued 'government officials may not coerce private entities to suppress speech.'

Sources

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