President Joe Biden’s administration urged the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a dispute over Republican-backed laws in Texas and Florida that would curtail efforts by social media companies to block content deemed objectionable on their platforms.
States consider these acts unacceptable censorship.
The justices are considering taking up two cases challenging the state laws brought by technology industry groups including NetChoice, whose members include MetaPlatforms Inc., Alphabet Inc., and X, formerly known as Twitter. was
Supporters of the laws passed in 2021 have argued that social media platforms have silenced conservative voices, while content moderation advocates argue for the need to curb misinformation and advocacy of extremist causes. What is it.
Florida is trying to reinstate its law after a lower court largely ruled against it, while industry groups are appealing a separate lower court decision to uphold the Texas law. The Supreme Court stayed the trial at an early stage.
Invited to weigh in on the dispute, the Justice Department said Monday that the cases should be reviewed because the laws burden the platforms’ rights under the US Constitution’s First Amendment, which protects free speech.
“When a social media platform selects, edits, and organizes the speech of a third party for public presentation, that activity is protected by the First Amendment,” the Justice Department said in a written brief. I’m busy.”
The cases will test industry groups’ argument that the First Amendment protects platforms’ editorial discretion and prohibits governments from forcing them to publish content against their will.
Companies have said that without editorial discretion, their websites would be flooded with spam, bullying, extremism and hate speech.
The Florida law requires major platforms to “host certain speech they choose not to host,” while disclosing censorship laws and prohibiting them from banning any political candidates. Texas law prohibits censoring users based on “ideology.”
