Posted on 06/18/2025 4:16:02 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Social media company X sued New York to challenge a state law that requires social media companies to submit semi-annual reports about how they are suppressing certain kinds of speech to the New York attorney general. According to the lawsuit, provisions in the “Stop Hiding Hate Act” violate social media companies’ First Amendment rights and threaten free speech.
The law, in part, outlines “terms of service reports” in which companies must disclose to the state whether the terms of service for each of their platforms define certain “categories,” including hate speech, racism, extremism, misinformation, harassment, and foreign political interference. If their terms of service do include these categories, the companies would also be required to include those definitions in the report. The reports would also require companies to disclose a “detailed description” of their “content moderation practices” regarding these categories. Failing to submit the report could engender $15,000 per day. Governor Kathy Hochul signed the law in December, and it is set to go into effect this year.
X challenged the constitutionality of the “Content Category Report” portions of the law, arguing that they force companies to disclose “highly sensitive and controversial speech” protected under the Constitution. X also noted that content moderation “engenders considerable debate among reasonable people about where to draw the correct proverbial line,” and that “[t]his is not a role the government may play.”
Musk, who has described himself as a “free speech absolutist,” bought Twitter in 2022 to return the platform to “a digital town square” where ideas could be debated freely. He loosened the platform’s content moderation rules and readmitted suspended users, including President Donald Trump.
New York State Sen. Brad Holyman-Sigal and Assemblywoman Grace Lee, both Democrats, sponsored the law...
(Excerpt) Read more at thefederalist.com ...
New York is going all in on the Marxism, eh.
“So they are suppressing some speech already”.
Yes. And NY wants to make sure they are suppressing the correct speech, i.e. anything against the approved narrative.
NY is vying for first place with CA for being the worst state in the country.
Actually, anything NY (IOW hochul and james) want suppressed .
I have not ever, ever, sought a degree in law, but I am fairly certain the whole scheme does not hold up to Constitutional review.
“New York State Sen. Brad Holyman-Sigal ... Democrats, sponsored the law...”
Tell me your gay without telling me your gay.
Meanwhile, I’ve been banned on Twitter/X for over 6 years now...
That law has many flaws. It should be shot down easily.
Censorship by the left in NY. Imagine that.
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