United States Supreme Court building — Courtesy: Shutterstock — Steve Heap
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Texas and Florida attempts to restrict how Facebook, TikTok, X, YouTube, and other social media companies control content uploaded by their users were halted on Monday by the Supreme Court.
In response to the firms’ trade groups’ challenges, the justices sent the cases back to lower courts.
Although the specifics differ, the goals of both measures were to allay conservative concerns that social media corporations had a liberal slant and restricted users based on their opinions, particularly those of the political right. The cases are just a few this term where the justices are debating what constitutes appropriate speech in the digital era.
In the months that followed Facebook and Twitter’s (now-X) decisions to ban then-President Donald Trump for his postings on his followers’ Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, Republican governors signed the measures in Florida and Texas.
Trade associations on behalf of the firms filed a lawsuit in federal court, arguing that the rules infringed upon the platforms’ freedom of speech. A federal appeals court upheld the Texas law and knocked down the Florida statute. However, both were put on hold until the Supreme Court decided their case.
Gov. Ron DeSantis declared in a statement upon enacting the Florida legislation that it will serve as “protection against the Silicon Valley elites.”
Governor Greg Abbott declared that the Texas law was necessary to safeguard free expression in the “new public square” at the time it was signed. According to Abbott, social media platforms “are a venue for healthy public discourse where information should be able to flow freely.” However, there is a risky movement by these corporations to stifle conservative ideas and opinions. “That is incorrect, and Texas will not tolerate it.”
Yet a lot has transpired since then. After buying Twitter, Elon Musk renamed the platform, removed staff responsible for content moderation, and allowed back a large number of users who had been banned for using the platform to propagate conspiracy theories and engage in hate speech.
While cautioning the court to seek a narrow finding that maintained governments’ power to apply laws to foster competition, safeguard data privacy, and protect consumer interests, President Joe Biden’s administration sided with the challengers. In a brief submitted in the Florida case, attorneys for Trump urged the Supreme Court to uphold the state legislation.
A case from Louisiana, Missouri, and other parties accusing federal officials of pressuring social media companies to silence conservative points of view was dismissed by the court last week, one of several involving social media platforms that the justices have wrestled with over the past year.
In their February arguments, the justices appeared to lean toward blocking the measures’ implementation. At the time, a number of judges expressed their opinion that the platforms should be treated more like newspapers, which are protected by extensive free speech laws, than like common carriers, which are phone corporations subject to more stringent regulations.
Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, however, seemed more inclined to accept the states’ positions. Thomas brought up the notion that by “censoring other speech,” the corporations are attempting to obtain constitutional protection. Furthermore, Alito equated content moderation on the platforms with censorship.
The justices were particularly concerned that an overly expansive decision might have an impact on companies that aren’t the main targets of the legislation, such as email and messaging services and e-commerce platforms like Uber and Etsy.
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Born and raised in South Florida, Krystal is a recent graduate from the University of Miami with professional writing experience at the collegiate and national news outlet levels. She’s a foodie who loves all things travel, the beach, & visiting new places throughout Florida.