American Military News by Greg Stohr - Bloomberg News August 15, 2023
President Joe Biden’s administration urged the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down key parts of Florida and Texas laws that would sharply restrict the editorial discretion of the largest social media platforms.
In a court filing Monday, U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said the Republican-backed measures violate the First Amendment rights of social media companies by limiting their freedom to decide how material is presented and requiring detailed explanations for content-moderation decisions.
“When a social-media platform selects, edits, and arranges third-party speech for presentation to the public, it engages in activity protected by the First Amendment,” Prelogar argued. The filing largely backed two industry trade groups challenging the laws.
Prelogar, the administration’s top Supreme Court lawyer, urged the high court to review both laws. The Supreme Court asked Prelogar for her views in January.
The trade associations — which represent Meta Platforms Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google and X Corp., the company formerly known as Twitter Inc. — say the laws would impose onerous requirements and put platforms at risk of being overrun by spam and bullying.
More:
https://americanmilitarynews.com/2023/08/social-media-laws-violate-speech-rights-doj-tells-supreme-court/
