Supreme Court Rules 9-0 in NetChoice on Florida, Texas Social Media Laws

Jul 1, 2024, 02:56 PM

The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a unanimous 9-0 ruling on the legality of Republican-backed social media laws in Florida and Texas. The Court vacated the decisions of both the Fifth and Eleventh Circuit Courts, stating that neither applied the correct test for First Amendment facial challenges. The cases, known as NetChoice, have been remanded to the lower courts for proper analysis. The laws in question sought to prevent social media companies like Meta and Google from moderating content deemed objectionable. The Supreme Court emphasized that states cannot interfere with the editorial discretion of private online services. Justice Kagan's majority opinion highlighted the complexity of the issue but clarified that private actors' speech cannot be regulated to advance a state's ideological balance.