The Supreme Court recently deliberated for four hours on two crucial cases that could greatly impact the rules governing the regulation of social media networks.
State Laws at Odds with Social Media Regulation
The Court grappled with laws from Texas and Florida designed to impose new limitations on social media platforms’ ability to moderate content on their sites.
Florida’s Defeated Law
A lower court invalidated Florida’s proposed law, which aimed to restrict social networks from removing specific types of political content.
Upheld Texas Law
NetChoice vs. State Laws
Championing the fight against these laws is NetChoice, an internet industry trade group. The Texas case of NetChoice v. Paxton and the Florida case of Moody v. NetChoice stand at the forefront of this legal battle.
Political Divide
The Florida legislation specifically hampers social media platforms from censoring content from political figures and news outlets, aiming to reduce the removal of potentially harmful or misleading information. In contrast, the Texas law’s broad language essentially prevents platforms from moderating any content based on perspectives.
Partisan Perspectives
Republican support leans towards these restrictions, alleging their opinions are unfairly suppressed online. On the flip side, Democrats fear these laws will exacerbate the proliferation of extreme political content.
Supreme Court Discusses Social Media Laws
The lively and often prickly discussions on Monday made it clear that the justices have some concerns about the laws, and how they would relate to both the First Amendment and Section 230, a federal statute that essentially protects social media sites from liability for content posted by users.
Common Carriers or Publishers?
Another key debate was whether social media sites should be treated as “common carriers” like phone companies and delivery services, or whether they are more akin to publishers, with the right to be discriminating in the content on their platforms.
Majority of Justices Lean Towards First Amendment Violation
Thomas Berry, a research fellow with the Center for Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, said that it appears that a majority of the court are likely to find the two laws violate the First Amendment, “at least when they force traditional social media sites like Facebook and X to change their moderation practices and disseminate speech they want to exclude.”
Justice Kavanaugh’s View
Berry notes that Justice Brett Kavanaugh repeatedly pointed out during the hearing that the First Amendment protects private actors against government censorship, but doesn’t allow the government to tell others what to publish.
Compatibility with the First Amendment
Berry’s assessment is that only justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito appeared to be sympathetic to the argument that the laws might be fully compatible with the First Amendment.