The Fort Worth Press - US top court sidesteps ruling on contentious social media laws

USD -
AED 3.673042
AFN 68.345223
ALL 91.574579
AMD 389.145335
ANG 1.812375
AOA 912.503981
ARS 999.314589
AUD 1.519295
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.70397
BAM 1.823845
BBD 2.030401
BDT 120.165991
BGN 1.823938
BHD 0.379074
BIF 2968.993332
BMD 1
BND 1.329137
BOB 6.964144
BRL 5.737904
BSD 1.005642
BTN 84.841703
BWP 13.337063
BYN 3.290903
BYR 19600
BZD 2.02695
CAD 1.39318
CDF 2866.000362
CHF 0.875866
CLF 0.034749
CLP 958.828741
CNY 7.179204
CNH 7.119295
COP 4328.157784
CRC 514.384296
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 102.82557
CZK 23.557404
DJF 179.073996
DKK 6.957104
DOP 60.558586
DZD 133.324008
EGP 49.274957
ERN 15
ETB 124.505712
EUR 0.932604
FJD 2.238204
FKP 0.765169
GBP 0.774144
GEL 2.720391
GGP 0.765169
GHS 16.491817
GIP 0.765169
GMD 71.503851
GNF 8668.811489
GTQ 7.773581
GYD 210.388399
HKD 7.77435
HNL 25.372313
HRK 6.88903
HTG 132.326199
HUF 379.790388
IDR 15654.85
ILS 3.74981
IMP 0.765169
INR 84.38315
IQD 1317.293794
IRR 42092.503816
ISK 138.740386
JEP 0.765169
JMD 159.54679
JOD 0.709104
JPY 152.65504
KES 129.715112
KGS 86.203799
KHR 4083.55481
KMF 460.375039
KPW 899.999774
KRW 1398.203789
KWD 0.30667
KYD 0.837973
KZT 495.034271
LAK 22070.219611
LBP 90051.475731
LKR 294.204318
LRD 190.562783
LSL 17.597892
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.879937
MAD 9.930713
MDL 18.035156
MGA 4652.398937
MKD 57.45792
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3398.000028
MOP 8.051942
MRU 40.06248
MUR 46.403741
MVR 15.450378
MWK 1743.740383
MXN 20.176204
MYR 4.382504
MZN 63.903729
NAD 17.597892
NGN 1668.080377
NIO 37.002844
NOK 10.999904
NPR 135.746724
NZD 1.676306
OMR 0.384818
PAB 1.005642
PEN 3.771996
PGK 4.036928
PHP 58.455038
PKR 279.24409
PLN 4.03435
PYG 7863.104397
QAR 3.6669
RON 4.641704
RSD 109.153038
RUB 97.915792
RWF 1378.467851
SAR 3.755989
SBD 8.340754
SCR 13.420525
SDG 601.503676
SEK 10.813404
SGD 1.325604
SHP 0.765169
SLE 22.850371
SLL 20969.496802
SOS 574.719075
SRD 34.97037
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.799366
SYP 2512.530268
SZL 17.593137
THB 34.215038
TJS 10.689514
TMT 3.51
TND 3.122208
TOP 2.342104
TRY 34.340368
TTD 6.83359
TWD 32.250367
TZS 2684.944281
UAH 41.514524
UGX 3680.701264
UYU 42.010538
UZS 12858.674873
VEF 3622552.534434
VES 44.647491
VND 25275
VUV 118.722039
WST 2.801184
XAF 611.700471
XAG 0.029645
XAU 0.000367
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.753952
XOF 611.700471
XPF 111.21369
YER 249.825037
ZAR 18.463855
ZMK 9001.203587
ZMW 27.377256
ZWL 321.999592
  • RBGPF

    61.4000

    61.4

    +100%

  • RELX

    0.3200

    47.98

    +0.67%

  • NGG

    -0.3600

    63.94

    -0.56%

  • GSK

    -0.3700

    36.29

    -1.02%

  • SCS

    0.0600

    13.14

    +0.46%

  • RYCEF

    0.0100

    7.15

    +0.14%

  • RIO

    -3.0400

    64.43

    -4.72%

  • CMSC

    0.1600

    24.84

    +0.64%

  • AZN

    -0.2000

    64.49

    -0.31%

  • BTI

    -0.0100

    35.39

    -0.03%

  • BP

    -0.8800

    28.93

    -3.04%

  • JRI

    0.1600

    13.53

    +1.18%

  • BCC

    1.4700

    142.32

    +1.03%

  • BCE

    0.3000

    28.37

    +1.06%

  • VOD

    -0.0100

    9.31

    -0.11%

  • CMSD

    0.2350

    25.125

    +0.94%

US top court sidesteps ruling on contentious social media laws
US top court sidesteps ruling on contentious social media laws / Photo: © AFP

US top court sidesteps ruling on contentious social media laws

The US Supreme Court on Monday ordered lower courts to review a pair of Republican-backed laws that imposed restrictions on social media content moderation, in a decision welcomed by the tech industry.

Text size:

Tech industry trade groups had challenged the laws passed by conservative Republican lawmakers in Florida and Texas in a bid to stem what they claimed was political bias by major platforms.

The Supreme Court declined to rule on whether it was constitutional for states to pass legislation that limit the powers of social media companies to moderate their content, leaving the two laws in limbo as the lower courts conduct their review.

Florida's measure bars social media platforms from pulling content from politicians, a law that was passed after former president Donald Trump was suspended from Twitter and Facebook in the wake of the January 6, 2021 assault on the US Capitol.

In Texas, the law stops sites from pulling content based on a "viewpoint" and is also intended to thwart what conservatives see as censorship by tech platforms such as Facebook and YouTube against right-wing ideas.

Neither law has gone into effect due to the litigation.

The challenge was brought by associations representing big tech companies, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and NetChoice, who argue that the First Amendment allows platforms to have the freedom to handle content as they see fit.

"We are encouraged that a majority of the Court has made clear that the government cannot tilt public debate in its favored direction," CCIA president Matt Schruers said in a statement.

"There is nothing more Orwellian than government attempting to dictate what speech should be carried, whether it is a newspaper or a social media site."

The decision was also welcomed by tech advocacy groups.

"The government does not have the right to impose rules on how companies like Meta and Google should accomplish" content moderation, said Nora Benavidez, senior counsel at the watchdog Free Press.

"These laws would have further ratcheted up the amount of hate and disinformation online while undermining both the meaning and the intent of the First Amendment," she added.

Monday's decision comes after the Supreme Court last week rejected a Republican-led bid to curb government contact with social media companies to moderate their content.

The decision handed a win to President Joe Biden's administration and top government agencies ahead of the presidential vote in November, allowing them to continue notifying major platforms including Facebook and X about what they deem as false or hateful content.

P.Navarro--TFWP