Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Social Media Censorship Laws By Harry Painter

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in February regarding Florida and Texas laws designed to stem big tech bias against conservatives.

The laws, both passed in 2021, would limit the rights of social media giants such as Meta, TikTok, X, and YouTube to curate or moderate content posted by their users. The cases have implications for public health policy, and one includes health care professionals among the litigants.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 7072 in 2021. The law prohibits companies from “willfully deplatforming a candidate,” something that X, then known as Twitter, and Meta infamously did to then-sitting President Donald Trump after the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. The law also requires platforms to publish their criteria for banning users or content and to apply the criteria consistently. It also allows Floridians to sue the platforms for any violations of the law.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 20 the same year. The bill makes it illegal for platforms to censor content based on a user’s viewpoint or location. Like the Florida law, Texas requires platforms to be open about their criteria for removing content, and it also allows residents to sue the companies for any violations.
First Amendment Disputes

In both the Florida and Texas cases, representatives for the social media companies argue that the laws infringe on their rights to choose what content they publish and promote, which they say is protected by the First Amendment.

Should the court uphold the laws, the platforms’ newsfeeds could look radically different than what users are used to, say the social media titans.

The Florida and Texas cases will be one of two social media censorship disputes heard by the court this year. The other is Murthy v. Missouri, in which the states of Missouri and Louisiana accuse the Biden administration of pressuring social media companies to censor conservative viewpoints.

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