Key Kamala Harris Campaign Staffers Linked to Biden-Harris Administration’s Social Media Censorship Efforts

Two top Kamala Harris campaign staffers were involved in the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to censor COVID-19 “disinformation.”

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom

Two senior staffers for Vice President Kamala Harris’s 2024 campaign were previously involved in significant efforts by the Biden-Harris administration to censor social media content deemed as “disinformation” about COVID-19. Rob Flaherty, now serving as deputy campaign manager, and Aisha Shah, the campaign’s director of digital partnerships, both played crucial roles in these efforts while working in the White House.

Flaherty, who was the director of digital strategy and an assistant to President Joe Biden, and Shah, who served as the deputy director of partnerships, are named in legal filings related to the Murthy v. Missouri lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that the federal government violated the First Amendment by coercing social media companies to suppress content related to the pandemic and other controversial topics. On the Harris campaign team, Flaherty and Shah continue to hold influential roles, according to their LinkedIn profiles.

In a July 2023 motion for a preliminary injunction in the Murthy v. Missouri case, Flaherty’s involvement in meetings with officials from Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube was detailed. During these meetings, he pressured the platforms to adopt a stricter stance on COVID-19 “misinformation” and content that could fuel vaccine hesitancy. One email from Flaherty to Facebook officials in April 2021 expressed frustration over content from Tucker Carlson and Tomi Lahren, which he felt undermined vaccination efforts. “Since we’ve been on the phone — the top post about vaccines today is tucker (sic) Carlson saying they don’t work. Yesterday was Tomi Lehren (sic) saying she won’t take one,” Flaherty wrote, emphasizing the need for more effective content reduction strategies.

Flaherty also demanded that Twitter remove a parody account linked to President Biden’s granddaughter, Finnegan Biden, stating in communications that he “cannot stress the degree to which this needs to be resolved immediately,” according to court documents. In May, Flaherty testified before the House Judiciary Committee, defending his actions by citing the severe public health risks posed by misinformation during the pandemic.

Shah’s role in the censorship efforts was identified through a third-party subpoena issued to Facebook and its parent company, Meta. According to legal filings, Shah communicated with social media firms about “misinformation, disinformation, and censorship,” as detailed in another legal filing tied to the Murthy v. Missouri case.

The Murthy v. Missouri case ultimately reached the Supreme Court, where the justices ruled in favor of the Biden administration, stating that the plaintiffs lacked standing. However, Justice Samuel Alito dissented, warning that the decision could set a precedent for future governmental overreach in controlling public discourse. He stated that the ruling permits “the successful campaign of coercion in this case to stand as an attractive model for future officials who want to control what the people say, hear, and think.”

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently admitted in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan that the Biden administration “repeatedly pressured” Facebook to censor content that would not have otherwise been restricted. Zuckerberg expressed regret over yielding to that pressure.

The Harris campaign, Flaherty, Shah, and the White House have not responded to requests for comment.