Supreme Court Today Hears Lawsuits Centered on Social Media Companies’ Property/Speech Rights
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Today, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Moody v. NetChoice & CCIA and NetChoice & CCIA v. Paxton. Jessica Melugin, director of CEI’s Center for Technology and Innovation emphasizes the fact that companies own their own platforms and have the right to make their own content decisions.
“The Texas and Florida laws are touted by their supporters as a free speech protection for social media users; but just as someone has no right to throw a political fundraiser in a neighbor’s backyard without the neighbor’s permission, social media users have no right to speak on the private property of social media platforms.
“The bills violate the First Amendment rights of social media platforms that, no matter how big or public-facing, remain private property, with their right to refuse to carry speech intact. Texas and Florida cannot wave away constitutional prohibitions on compelled speech just to score political points.
“Advocates for frustrated social media users should direct their efforts instead to investigating and combatting government jawboning of social media companies to remove content, the issue at the heart of Murthy v. Missouri, also to be considered at the Supreme Court this term.”
More on the Texas law from CEI:
Texas May Still be the Wild West but its Social Media Shouldn’t Be
More on social media as common carriers: