by Charlotte Hazard
The Supreme Court announced Friday that it would hear two cases regarding social media laws in the states of Texas and Florida.
The laws attempt to forbid social media platforms from banning users based on political views, according to The Hill.
The laws were challenged in lower courts by two tech industry groups, the Computer and Communications Industry Association and NetChoice.
The groups argue the laws in both states violate the companies’ First Amendment rights.
Texas Judge Andrew Stephen Oldham on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in his decision to uphold the social media law that the First Amendment doesn’t guarantee corporations the “unenumerated right to muzzle speech.”
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said that the lower court’s decision to block the state’s law “squarely conflicts” with the 5th Circuit’s ruling for Texas, which upheld the state’s similar law.
At least four of the nine justices agreed to take up the cases.
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Charlotte Hazard is a 2022 Liberty University alumni who graduated with a major in journalism and a minor in government.
Photo “Supreme Court” by Sunira Moses. CC BY-SA 3.0.
