Supreme Court weighs free speech challenges to GOP-backed social media restrictions
The Supreme Court considers whether to uphold GOP laws in Florida and Texas that seek to restrict social media companies' moderation content based on the claim that they disfavor conservative speech.
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday will consider whether to uphold Republican-backed laws in Florida and Texas that seek to impose restrictions on the ability of social media companies to moderate content based on the claim that they disfavor conservative speech.
Platforms like Facebook and YouTube, represented by trade groups NetChoice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association, known as CCIA, say that both laws infringe upon the free speech rights of companies under the Constitution’s First Amendment by restricting their ability to choose what content they wish to publish on their platforms.
Various other tech companies that routinely moderate user content oppose the laws, including Reddit, Discord and Yelp.
The laws were enacted by the Republican-led states in 2021 after Twitter, Facebook and others banned former President Donald Trump after his effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election ended in his supporters storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
This was before Twitter was taken over the following year by billionaire Elon Musk, who has allied himself with conservative critics of the platform and allowed various banned users, including Trump, to return.
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