The high court refuses to rule on Texas and Florida laws, but upholds the right of social media platforms to moderate content.
The U.S. high court has refused to rule on whether Republican-backed laws limiting social media platforms’ ability to moderate content violate free speech, sending the issue back to lower courts.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ordered the 5th and 11th Circuit Courts of Appeals to re-review the Texas and Florida laws, arguing that the courts had not adequately addressed the statutes’ compatibility with the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. .
Although the high court did not rule on the constitutionality of the laws, the unanimous decision upheld the right of platforms such as Facebook, TikTok and YouTube to curate content on their platforms.
Writing for the court, Justice Elena Kagan said social media companies should enjoy editorial discretion comparable to that of newspapers and that the First Amendment “does not come into play when social media is involved.”
“The principle does not change because the curated compilation has moved from the physical world to the virtual world,” Kagan wrote in an opinion signed by five of the nine justices.
Florida and Texas have passed laws restricting platforms’ discretion to moderate content amid allegations from conservatives that Big Tech routinely favors liberal perspectives and censors right-wing viewpoints.
Republican governors Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott signed the laws months after Facebook and X banned former President Donald Trump over his posts about the Jan. 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.
President Joe Biden’s administration has opposed the state laws, supporting a legal challenge from the tech industry’s biggest lobbying groups.
After legal challenges, the 11th Circuit court of appeals struck down the Florida statute, while the 5th Circuit court of appeals upheld the Texas law.
The high court’s decision leaves Texas and Florida laws intact, but suspended after injunctions imposed in lower courts.
Tech industry trade groups welcomed Monday’s decision.
Chris Marchese, director of the NetChoice Litigation Center, said the high court affirmed “the Constitution’s unparalleled protections for free speech, including the world’s most important communications tool, the Internet.”
Matthew Schruers, president and CEO of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, said he was encouraged that the court “made clear that states have no business trying to tilt the marketplace of ideas in a favorable direction, even though our task is not done.” ”.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he would continue to fight for his state’s law, calling censorship by technology companies “one of the greatest threats to free public speech and election integrity.”
“No American should be silenced by Big Tech oligarchs,” Paxton said on X.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
