Judicial Watch Sues CDC for Communications with Big Tech on COVID-19

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) seeking records of communications between the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Big Tech about COVID-19.

Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after HHS failed to reply to a September 15, 2020, FOIA request (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Health of Human Services (No. 1:21-cv-00625)). Judicial Watch requested:

Any and all records of communication between CDC officials and/or employees and employees, agents, and/or representatives of Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube concerning, regarding, or relating to COVID-19 related content on company platforms. Such records include, but are not limited to, any advice or instructions issued on disinformation re COVID-19.

The CDC was required to respond to Judicial Watch’s request by October 29, 2020 but failed to do so. “The public has the right to know about CDC’s involvement in Big Tech’s outrageous censorship of Americans, including doctors, who raise questions about the COVID-19 response,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The Biden administration should stop stonewalling and release the records about the CDC’s role in suppressing the free speech of Americans.”