A Florida law intended to punish social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter for allegedly discriminating against conservative thought is an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment. A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously concluded that it was overreach for Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and the GOP-led Florida Legislature to tell the social media companies how to conduct their work. The ruling upholds a similar decision by a Florida federal judge on the 2021 law. It was part of an overall conservative effort to portray social media companies as hostile to conservative ideas.
One of those, in Texas, was allowed to go into effect by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and the tech companies involved there are asking for emergency U.S. Supreme Court review on whether to block it. No decision on that was immediately released.
“When a digital service takes action against problematic content on its own site — whether extremism, Russian propaganda, or racism and abuse — it is exercising its own right to free expression,” said CCIA President Matt Schruers in a statement. The bill targeted social media platforms that have more than 100 million monthly users, which include online giants as Twitter and Facebook. But lawmakers carved out an exception for the Walt Disney Co. and their apps by including that theme park owners wouldn’t be subject to the law.
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