Source: AFP
The US Supreme Court on Monday ordered lower courts to review a pair of Republican-backed laws that imposed restrictions on the content of social media, in a decision welcomed by the technology industry.
Tech industry trade groups had challenged the laws passed by conservative Republican lawmakers in Florida and Texas in an effort to curb what they claimed was political bias by big platforms.
The Supreme Court declined to rule on whether it was constitutional for states to pass legislation limiting the powers of social media companies to moderate their content, leaving the two laws in limbo as lower courts conduct their review.
The Florida measure prohibits social media platforms from pulling content from politicians, a law passed after former President Donald Trump was suspended from Twitter and Facebook following the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
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In Texas, the law prevents websites from pulling content based on an “opinion” and is also intended to prevent what conservatives see as censorship by tech platforms like Facebook and YouTube against right-wing ideas.
No law has been enacted because of the lawsuit.
The challenge came from associations representing major technology companies, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and NetChoice, which argue that the First Amendment allows platforms the freedom to handle content as they see fit.
“We are encouraged that the majority of the Court has made clear that the government cannot sway the public debate in its favor,” CCIA President Matt Schruers said in a statement.
“There is nothing more Orwellian than the government trying to dictate what speech should be expressed, whether it’s in a newspaper or on a social networking site.”
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The decision was also welcomed by technology advocacy groups.
“The government doesn’t have the right to dictate how companies like Meta and Google should go about” content moderation, said Nora Benavidez, senior counsel for the Free Press organization.
“These laws would have further increased the amount of hate and misinformation online while undermining both the meaning and intent of the First Amendment,” he added.
Monday’s ruling comes after the Supreme Court last week rejected a Republican-led effort to limit government contact with social media companies to moderate their content.
The ruling handed President Joe Biden’s administration and top government agencies a victory ahead of November’s presidential vote, allowing them to continue alerting major platforms such as Facebook and X about what they see as false or hateful content. .
Source: AFP
