The Supreme Court will hear challenges to Texas and Florida social media laws

Legal experts say they're the most important First Amendment cases in a generation. The question is whether states like Florida and Texas can force big social media platforms to carry content the platforms find hateful or objectionable.

"Freedom of speech is under attack in Texas," declared Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott at the bill signing."There is a dangerous movement by some social media companies to silence conservative ideas and values. This is wrong and we will not allow it in Texas." John Whitehead runs the Rutherford Institute, a conservative-leaning nonprofit group. Whitehead, who filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the cases, said the big social media sites have become the center of people's lives and they should not be engaging in any censorship.

Carl Szabo is general counsel of Netchoice, another big trade group for social media platforms that's involved in these lawsuits.At stake, he said, is who controls what people hear, say and read online. Today, the social media sites said, Florida is trying to make the big social media platforms print every single letter to the editor. Users don't want that and neither do advertisers, they said.The two trade associations — Netchoice and CCIA — are backed by groups across the political spectrum, from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Americans For Prosperity, which is linked to Charles Koch, to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Home-grown extremists like the Proud Boys and foreign groups like the Islamic State have deployed social media to attract converts and broadcast violence. The Christchurch mosque shooter in New Zealand live-streamed his activities, to try to inspire others, she added.

Source: Law Daily Report (lawdailyreport.net)

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Watch Live: Supreme Court hears social media cases that could reshape how Americans interact onlineThe two cases concern Republican-backed state laws that aim to restrict social media companies like Facebook and X, formerly Twitter, from moderating content.
Source: CBSNews - 🏆 87. / 68 Read more »

Boyi Gan lab - Houston, Texas (US) job with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer CenterNew postdoctoral positions are open in a cancer research laboratory located within The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Source: Nature - 🏆 64. / 68 Read more »

Live updates: Supreme Court considers the future of social mediaThe Supreme Court on Monday will hear oral arguments in a pair of cases that could transform how social networks have operated for decades.
Source: washingtonpost - 🏆 95. / 72 Read more »

Jussie Smollett asks Illinois Supreme Court to hear caseThe former “Empire” actor who was convicted of falsely reporting a hate crime to Chicago police in January of 2019 is petitioning the Illinois Supreme Court to hear his case.
Source: chicagotribune - 🏆 8. / 91 Read more »

Supreme Court hears oral arguments in lawsuit challenging public money to private schoolsThe Supreme Court heard arguments challenging the constitutionality of lawmakers spending $10 million in public funds on private schools.
Source: MSTODAYnews - 🏆 275. / 63 Read more »

In case over Trump's ballot eligibility, concerned voters make their own pitches to Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court's case over former President Donald Trump's ballot eligibility has attracted more than a dozen filings from voters who have felt compelled to express their views.
Source: CBSNews - 🏆 87. / 68 Read more »