Kagan: Florida social media regulation looks as if “traditional First Modification violation”

Enlarge / The Supreme Courtroom of the USA in Washington D.C. in Might 2023. (credit score: Getty Photographs | NurPhoto)

The US Supreme Courtroom in the present day heard oral arguments on Florida and Texas state legal guidelines that impose limits on how social media corporations can average user-generated content material.

The Florida regulation prohibits massive social media websites like Fb and Twitter (aka X) from banning politicians, and says they need to “apply censorship, deplatforming, and shadow banning requirements in a constant method amongst its customers on the platform.” The Texas statute prohibits massive social media corporations from moderating posts primarily based on a consumer’s “viewpoint.” The legal guidelines had been supported by Republican officers from 20 different states.

The tech business says each legal guidelines violate the businesses’ First Modification proper to make use of editorial discretion in deciding what sorts of user-generated content material to permit on their platforms, and how one can current that content material. The Supreme Courtroom will determine whether or not the legal guidelines might be enforced whereas the business lawsuits in opposition to Florida and Texas proceed in decrease courts.