A US federal judge restricted some agencies and officials of the administration of Joe Biden from meeting and communicating with social media companies to moderate their content, according to a court filing, writes The Guardian.

The injunction came in response to a lawsuit brought by Republican attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri, who alleged that US government officials went too far in efforts to encourage social media companies to address posts they worried could contribute to vaccine hesitancy during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, or upend elections.

The ruling said US government agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services and the FBI 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 US constitution.

A White House official said the US justice department was reviewing the order and will evaluate its options.

The order also mentioned by name officials, including the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, and Jen Easterly, who heads the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, in its restrictions.