In a 155-page ruling, Judge Terry Doughty barred Biden officials from contacting social media platforms over "content containing protected free speech".

The decision was the result of a lawsuit brought by former Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, who accused US government officials of going too far in efforts to encourage social media companies to address posts that contained misinformation regarding the Covid-19 pandemic.

The case has sparked a debate over the government's role in moderating content published on online platforms.

The ruling said certain government agencies could not talk to social media companies for "the purpose of urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech" under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

"Evidence produced...