Heritage Tech Expert Reacts to SCOTUS Ruling on Challenge to Social Media Censorship

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Heritage Tech Expert Reacts to SCOTUS Ruling on Challenge to Social Media Censorship

Jul 1, 2024 1 min read

WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. Supreme Court remanded NetChoice v. Paxton and Moody v. NetChoice, brought by the tech industry against Florida and Texas, back to the lower courts. These cases involve efforts by both states to protect Americans against social media censorship. The Heritage Foundation will continue supporting these states and others in their courageous fight to prohibit the censorship of the American people.

Daniel Cochrane, senior research associate at The Heritage Foundation’s Tech Policy Center, issued the following statement:

“The Supreme Court’s decision gives Florida and Texas the opportunity to show how Big Tech platforms are much more akin to common carriers than newspapers and how their opaque, algorithmically mediated censorship is distinguishable from expressive activity protected by the First Amendment.

 

“It also underscores the urgent need to revisit Section 230 protections for Big Tech platforms that engage in bad faith censorship and for policies that prioritize robust platform transparency, specifically around politically driven algorithmic interventions and content moderation decisions.”