Major Free Speech Win in Missouri v. Biden Case

When the First Injuries Hit. 

When the first wave of serious injuries from COVID-19 vaccines hit in late 2020 and early 2021, many people felt scared and alone. Doctors often dismissed their symptoms. Family and friends didn’t understand. So they turned to the internet, the only place where others were going through the same nightmare. They shared stories, swapped ideas on how to manage strange new symptoms, and formed support groups. Real conversations started. Hope began to grow.

Conversations Silenced

But soon those conversations faded. Posts got less and less visible. Groups started disappearing. Even simple personal stories, “this is what happened to me,” were taken down. Authors were often banned. The only messages allowed online were “safe and effective” and “protect grandma.” Anything that sounded different, even if it was completely true and came from lived experience, was labeled “misinformation” and pushed down or removed.

This wasn’t random. It was part of a coordinated effort by parts of the federal government to control what Americans could see and say about COVID-19. After years of legal battles, that effort has now been checked.

A Major Legal Victory

On March 24, 2026, a 10-year Consent Decree was filed in the landmark Missouri v. Biden case (formerly Murthy v. Missouri at the Supreme Court). The agreement bars the U.S. Surgeon General, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) from threatening or pressuring major platforms (Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, YouTube) to remove, suppress, or hide lawful speech.

Key language from the decree states:

“The federal government cannot pressure social media companies to remove or deplatform social media posts containing information deemed ‘misinformation’ by the federal government.”

And:

“The federal government cannot take actions, formal or informal, directly or indirectly, to threaten Social-Media Companies with some form of punishment unless they remove, delete, suppress, or reduce, including through altering their algorithms, posted social-media content containing protected speech.”

The decree takes effect once signed by the court and runs for a full decade. It resolves all remaining claims without any admission of guilt by the government. It follows President Trump’s January 2025 Executive Order condemning past actions that advanced a single government-preferred story while silencing others.

React19’s Important Role

React19 played a meaningful part in this fight. The organization joined forces with others to show how government pressure on social media hurt real families by cutting off peer support and honest discussions about vaccine injuries.

Gratitude to the Manhattan Institute

The Manhattan Institute, a respected nonpartisan public policy think tank dedicated to advancing individual liberty, free speech, and open debate, championed this effort. In February 2024, the Institute filed a powerful amicus brief in the Supreme Court phase of the case. They partnered directly with React19 and three vaccine-injured individuals to highlight how censorship silenced scientific debate and isolated those suffering. React19 owes the Manhattan Institute deep gratitude for their strong leadership and commitment to protecting the voices of the injured community.

Stories from Three Vaccine-Injured Members

Here are short stories of those three React19 members, drawn from the brief:

Brianne Dressen, co-founder of React19, was injured in November 2020 during an AstraZeneca trial. Symptoms hit within an hour and grew into more than 20 severe issues. She spent months in a dark, quiet room, unable to be near her young children. Diagnosed with post-vaccine neuropathy, POTS, and CIDP, she remains disabled and needs expensive daily medications. Brianne started React19 to help thousands like her. The group relied on social media for connection and information, but government pressure led to posts being removed and support networks disrupted.

Denise Malik, a public-school teacher for 24 years and mother of two, got vaccinated to protect her family and students. Within days she needed emergency care. Years later she still fights neuropathy, spasms, headaches, mast cell issues, heart problems, and sleep trouble that make daily life hard. Denise helped build a React19-linked support group. Facebook shut it down in June 2021. Members had to restart it multiple times and speak in careful “code” to avoid bans. Even sharing peer-reviewed studies sometimes got blocked.

Louie Traub, himself vaccine-injured, became React19’s social media manager. He saw the censorship up close as he tried to share member stories, research updates, and event videos. Content was often flagged, hidden, or deleted for “dangerous acts” or “community standards” violations. This made it much harder for the organization to help its community of over 36,000 people.

What This Means Going Forward

This Consent Decree is an important step forward. It will not fix every past harm or bring back deleted posts, but it should make it much harder for the same agencies to pressure platforms to silence voices in the future. For the vaccine-injured, it means a better chance to speak openly, find each other, and push for real recognition and research into their conditions.

React19 thanks the Manhattan Institute for its strong work on the amicus brief and celebrates this win for free speech. The road has been long and painful, but protecting the ability to share honest experiences matters deeply to our mission.

We remain focused on supporting those still suffering through direct help, awareness, and advocacy. A healthier public conversation benefits everyone.

To read the full Consent Decree, click here.

To read the Supreme Court full brief, click here.

For the Manhattan Institute amicus brief, click here.