Supreme Court Dumps Challenges to Social Media Restrictions

The US Supreme Court has rejected a pair of challenges to laws in Florida and Texas that sought to overturn limits on social media censoring of content.

The court sends decisions back to lower courts, and tells them to reconsider

The laws in Texas and Florida allowed them to regulate the social media platform censor methods.

Republican and conservative legislators and groups contended social media platforms such as Meta (Facebook and Instagram) and TikTok (SNAP) and others intentionally censored or limited the reach of conservative content they disagreed with.

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The social media platforms had challenged the ruling by way of the group Net Choice, and others, of which these platforms are members.

According to Reuters:

"At issue was whether the First Amendment protects the editorial discretion of the social media platforms and prohibits governments from forcing companies to publish content against their will. The companies have said that without such discretion - including the ability to block or remove content or users, prioritize certain posts over others or include additional context - their websites would be overrun with spam, bullying, extremism and hate speech.

Many Republicans have argued that social media platforms stifle conservative voices in the guise of content moderation, branding this as censorship"

Neither of the laws in either state had gone into effect, due to the ongoing legal challenges. The Supreme Court sent the decisions back to the lower courts, saying they need to reconsider their rulings that limited or got rid of part of the laws.

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