Social Media Companies Have 1st Amendment Rights; FL Injunction Upheld

FLORIDA — Social media companies are protected by the First Amendment, a panel of judges ruled Monday when they partially upheld an injunction against a Florida law that penalized the companies for banning political candidates, according to Bloomberg.

Companies’ content moderation decisions are protected editorial judgment, Bloomberg reported, quoting the appeals court’s opinion, which states, “the government can’t tell a private person or entity what to say or how to say it.”

The law was intended to punish social media companies accused by Gov. Ron DeSantis of discriminating against conservative ideas, according to ClickOrlando.com. Florida state leaders have taken issue with Twitter’s suspension of former President Donald Trump and YouTube’s removal of a panel hosted by DeSantis that spotlighted scientists who opposed pandemic-era masking and business closures, Bloomberg reported.

“This ruling means platforms cannot be forced by the government to disseminate vile, abusive and extremist content under penalty of law,” said Matt Schruers, president of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, which challenged the law in 2021 with NetChoice, in a prepared statement.

“This is good news for internet users, the First Amendment and free speech in a democracy. When a digital service takes action against problematic content on its own site 一 whether extremism, Russian propaganda, or racism and abuse 一 it is exercising its own right to free expression. We will continue to fight for the First Amendment rights of digital services to engage in the editorial judgments they need to make to protect their users.”

The law would impose $250,000 daily fines on companies that block statewide candidates for longer than two weeks and would allow individuals to seek as much as $100,000 in damages for claims that standards weren’t consistently applied to their content, according to Bloomberg.

The court did lift the injunction against certain disclosure provisions of the law, and it said the state had a valid interest in making sure users weren’t misled about platform moderation policies, Bloomberg reported.

“We are pleased the court recognized the state’s authority to rein in social media companies and upheld major portions of Florida’s law leading the way in doing so,” Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said in a tweet. “We will continue to vigorously defend Florida’s authority to demand accountability from Big Tech."