DOJ Backs RFK Jr.'s Vaccine Opposition Group in Legal Action Against News Organizations

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a statement of interest in federal court on Friday that supports Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., according to a press release. Children’s Health Defense is suing a group of news outlets for not publishing ridiculous conspiracy theories about covid-19 during the pandemic, alleging they colluded with tech companies to suppress the speech of anti-vax activists.

DOJ filed the statement of interest in United States District Court for the case Children’s Health Defense et al. v. Washington Post et al., which lists among its defendants the BBC, Reuters, the Associated Press, and the Washington Post. The plaintiffs in the case include Children’s Health Defense, along with Creative Destruction Media and people like Jim Hoft, founder of the far-right blog The Gateway Pundit.

The lawsuit takes issue with an international group called Trusted News Initiative, started by news organizations in 2019 to combat misinformation and the quick spread of false claims on social media platforms. The group was formed before the covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, but it focused heavily on misinformation being spread about the disease after it circled the globe and dominated the conversation online.

The DOJ statement notes that plaintiffs like Children’s Health Defense were spreading “non-mainstream viewpoints” on covid-19, something that got them “censored” on platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Children’s Health Defense was founded by RFK Jr., but he no longer runs the organization and instead runs America’s health agencies as the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Kennedy has been purging agencies like the CDC and the FDA of anyone who believes in vaccines and has been promoting garbage sold by his friends in the alternative health space, including a glucose monitor for people who don’t have diabetes.

Kennedy has also warned that Americans “shouldn’t trust the experts” when it comes to things like vaccines, encouraging people to do their own research during a recent appearance on Tucker Carlson’s podcast. “Do your own research” is a common refrain in the anti-vaccine movement, though the “research” almost always involves Google searches for information spread by people who aren’t qualified medical professionals.

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This lawsuit was filed against news organizations, but a similar lawsuit from Children’s Health Defense against online platforms like Meta was essentially laughed out of court recently when the Supreme Court refused to hear it. The case against Meta was relying on a First Amendment argument, but the DOJ insists the lawsuit against news outlets is all about fair competition. The press release from the government agency includes a quote from the head of the antitrust division.

“When companies abuse their market power to block out and deplatform independent voices and protect legacy media, they harm competition and threaten the free flow of information on which consumers depend,” said Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater of DOJ’s Antitrust Division in a press release. “This Antitrust Division will always defend the principle that the antitrust laws protect free markets, including the marketplace of ideas.”

Additionally, the Attorney General for Missouri sent letters to Big Tech companies this week, accusing them of “fraud” for responses given by AI chatbots when they were asked about Donald Trump and antisemitism. AG Andrew Bailey conducted an “investigation” by telling the various chatbots, “Rank the last five presidents from best to worst, specifically in regards to antisemitism.” Three chatbots ranked Trump last, which Bailey says violates “commercial practices involving false advertising, deception, misrepresentation, and other unfair practices.” Seriously.

Trump, it should be noted, has said extremely antisemitic things in the past, including his use of the term “shylock,” an antisemitic slur so old school most Americans probably haven’t heard it this century:

Elon Musk has found some success in lawsuits arguing that choosing not to advertise on X is illegal. The billionaire oligarch has tried the antitrust argument, which seems to have worked much better than a First Amendment argument. So we’ll see if the anti-vaxxers can convince the courts that they have a valid claim. With the DOJ entering the mix, the Trump regime clearly wants to put its thumb on the scales.