Supreme Court grapples with state social media content laws - Roll Call The Supreme Court appeared reluctant Monday to issue a ruling that would shake up how social media companies operate. Roll Call · Feb 26, 2024
US supreme court appears skeptical of social media content moderation laws World’s biggest social media firms challenge state laws blocking them from moderating certain content or banning users The Guardian - US · Feb 26, 2024
Supreme Court justices appear skeptical of Texas and Florida social media laws These cases raise a critical question for the First Amendment and the future of social media: whether states can force the platforms to carry content they find hateful or objectionable. WEKU · Feb 26, 2024
Does the First Amendment apply to social media moderation? The U.S. Supreme Court will decide. In 2021, Texas passed a law restricting large social media companies from banning political posts or users. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a legal challenge to the state law. The Texas Tribune · Feb 26, 2024
Supreme Court to hear arguments on online content moderation - Roll Call Two cases on tap Monday pit Texas and Florida laws against First Amendment rights of large internet companies. Roll Call · Feb 23, 2024
Kids Have First Amendment Rights Too, Federal Judge Reminds State Lawmakers Banning people under age 16 from accessing social media without parental consent "is a breathtakingly blunt instrument" for reducing potential harms, the judge writes. Reason · Feb 14, 2024
Disney Loses First Amendment Claim over Florida's Cancellation of Special Government District that Disney Controlled From yesterday's decision by Judge Allen Winsor (N.D. Fla.) in Walt Disney Parks & Resorts U.S., Inc. v. DeSantis; I expect Disney will appeal (see also Adam Schulman's and Dilan Esper's analyses of this in April 2022, which proved prescient, and also my April 22 discussion of some alternative arguments):… Reason · Feb 1, 2024
Utah Would Rather Repeal Social Media Age Check Law Than Defend It In Court Laws like Utah's would require anyone using social media to prove their age through methods such as submitting biometric data or a government-issued ID. Reason · Jan 29, 2024
A judge has temporarily halted enforcement of an Ohio law limiting kids’ use of social media A federal judge has temporarily halted enforcement of an Ohio law that would require children under 16 to get parental consent to use social media apps The Independent UK · Jan 9, 2024
Advocates push for federal online safety laws as states take lead - Roll Call At least 15 states have pursued legislation that would require online companies to protect the safety of kids using their platforms. Roll Call · Jan 9, 2024
A group representing TikTok, Meta and X sues Ohio over new law limiting kids' use of social media A trade group representing TikTok, Snapchat, Meta and other major tech companies has sued Ohio over a pending law that requires children to get parental consent to use social media apps The Independent UK · Jan 5, 2024
How 2023 became the year Congress forgot to ban TikTok Momentum seemed to be with US lawmakers as they planned to stop 150m Americans from using TikTok. What happened? The Guardian - US · Dec 31, 2023
A group representing TikTok, Meta and X sues Utah over strict new limits on app use for minors A trade group that represents TikTok and other major tech companies has sued Utah over its first-in-the-nation laws requiring children to get parental consent to use social media apps The Independent UK · Dec 19, 2023
Cato Amicus Brief in the Texas and Florida Social Media Cases The brief urges the Supreme Court to reverse its badly misguided precedent in Pruneyard v. Robins. Reason · Dec 11, 2023
Chicago Sun-Times · Nov 28, 2023 Supreme Court will decide on First Amendment protections for social media The court has the opportunity to reexamine the nature of content moderation and the constitutional limitations of the government regarding speech on platforms such as Facebook, X, TikTok, and Instagram.
The Conversation · Nov 27, 2023 Supreme Court to consider giving First Amendment protections to social media posts The First Amendment does not protect messages posted on social media platforms.
Reason · Nov 20, 2023 Journal of Free Speech Law: "Carriage and Removal Requirements for Internet Platforms: What Taamneh Tells Us," by Daphne Keller This just-published article is here; the Abstract: The Supreme Court's 2023 Twitter v. Taamneh ruling arrived at a moment of potentially great change in the laws governing Internet platforms. The ruling, including Justice Thomas's factually dubious descriptions of platforms as passive and agnostic toward user content, will have major influence…
Reason · Oct 18, 2023 Journal of Free Speech Law: "Platform Transparency and the First Amendment," by Daphne Keller The article, which is directly relevant to the Netchoice cases that the Court will consider this Term, is here; here's the Introduction: Major U.S. platforms can powerfully influence public discourse by removing, promoting, and otherwise moderating users' online speech. Better information about their content moderation would help policymakers enact better…
The Independent UK · Oct 17, 2023 Here are some of the biggest Supreme Court cases to watch this term Justices will hear questions involving Donald Trump’s eligibility for office, abortion rights, gun ownership, the First Amendment and other major cases
Reason · Oct 4, 2023 Defenders of the Florida and Texas Social Media Laws Contradict Themselves If Facebook et al. are pushing a "radical leftist narrative," why don’t they have a constitutional right to do that?
Reason · Sep 29, 2023 Supreme Court Will Consider Cases Challenging Florida and Texas Social Media Laws The laws require major social media platforms to host content they disapprove of for substantive reasons.
Reason · Sep 19, 2023 Federal Judge Blocks California Online Age-Checking Law as Unconstitutional Shielding children from “harm” shouldn’t come at the expense of speech protected by the First Amendment.
Reason · Sep 10, 2023 Free Speech, Social Media Firms, and the Fifth Circuit The Fifth Circuit was right to rule it was illegal for the federal government to coerce social media firms, but wrong to uphold a Texas law requiring those firms to post material they prefer to keep out.
Reason · Sep 1, 2023 In Scathing Rulings, Federal Courts Block Arkansas and Texas Age Verification Laws Plus: Meta revises controversial "dangerous organizations" policy, a win against civil asset forfeiture in Detroit, and more...
The Independent UK · Aug 31, 2023 Judge blocks Arkansas law requiring parental OK for minors to create social media accounts A federal judge has blocked Arkansas from enforcing a new law that would have required parental consent for minors to create new social media accounts