Supreme Court Cautious About Limiting Government Interaction with Social Media Platforms in Free Speech Lawsuit
TL/DR –
The Supreme Court is hearing arguments in a case exploring the extent to which the US federal government can pressure social media companies to remove content considered misinformation without infringing constitutional rights. The case, Murthy v. Missouri, emerged from attempts by the Biden administration to get social media platforms to remove posts spreading alleged falsehoods about the pandemic and the 2020 presidential election. The Supreme Court is also hearing a case about whether a New York financial regulator violated the National Rifle Association’s free speech rights by pressuring banks and insurance companies to cut ties with the gun rights group.
Supreme Court Examines Federal Influence on Social Media Content Moderation
On Monday, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that tests the extent of federal government’s influence on how social media companies manage content that it deems as misinformation. This case, Murthy v. Missouri, emerged from early efforts by the Biden administration to pressure social platforms to remove posts spreading alleged falsehoods about the pandemic and the 2020 presidential election.
A U.S. district judge ruled that White House officials and some federal agencies violated the First Amendment’s freedom of speech by significantly encouraging content-moderation decisions of social media sites. This case is one of five that the Supreme Court is reviewing this term that involve First Amendment’s free speech protections and social media.
Another case highlights whether the violated free speech rights of the National Rifle Association when she urged banks and insurance companies to dissociate from the gun rights group after the 2018 shooting in Parkland, Florida. The Supreme Court will present decisions on both cases by the end of June.
The Biden administration’s efforts against misinformation
The social media case stems from the Biden administration’s efforts to urge platforms to take down posts spreading alleged falsehoods about the pandemic and the last presidential election. Five social media users and two states, Louisiana and Missouri, claimed their speech was stifled when platforms removed their posts after strong-arming by officials in the White House, Centers for Disease Control, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security.
Challengers alleged that this censorship enterprise resulted in federal officials pressuring social media platforms to suppress speech they disapproved. U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty found that Biden administration officials violated the First Amendment by coercing platforms’ content-moderation decisions. The U.S. Court of Appeals then ruled that certain White House officials and the FBI violated free speech rights when they coerced platforms to suppress content related to COVID-19 vaccines and the election.
In court filings, the Biden administration argued that social media users and states lack the legal standing to bring the case, but said officials must be free “to inform, to persuade, and to criticize.” They stated that the court unjustly limited the ability of the president’s aides to speak about matters of public concern, FBI’s ability to address threats to the nation’s security, and the CDC’s ability to relay public-health information.
The NRA’s court fight
In the second case, the court is considering whether the former superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services violated the NRA’s free speech rights when she pressured regulated insurance companies and banks to sever ties with the group. The NRA is arguing that this move was an attempt to suppress its speech, which, in their view, violates the First Amendment.
However, the state’s legal representatives claimed that the NRA’s actions were unlawful. They argued against the NRA’s free speech violation claims, emphasizing that it was never prevented from exercising its free speech rights. Allowing unpopular speech to form the basis for adverse regulatory action, as attempted in this case, would severely undermine a core principle of the First Amendment, they argued.
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