U.S. District Judge William Shabb ruled that the law’s disclosure rules were not “unreasonable or unduly burdensome.”
Elon Musk’s Company X has lost a bid to block a California law that would require social media companies to disclose how they conduct content moderation on their platforms.
X sued California in September, claiming the first-of-its-kind bill violates the U.S. Constitution’s free speech protections.
A bill signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom last year would require social media companies to submit twice-yearly reports on how they address hate speech, misinformation and other objectionable content. Mandatory.
U.S. District Judge William Shabb on Thursday denied X’s motion for a temporary stay of the law, saying that the disclosure requirement was “undisputed” and “unreasonable or unreasonable in the context of the First Amendment.” The court ruled that it was not a “burden.”
In X’s lawsuit, the law “forces companies to conduct speech activities against their will,” creates “impermissible interference” with companies’ editorial decisions, and forces companies to remove “constitutionally protected speech.” He claimed that he was under pressure.
X (formerly Twitter) has seen an exodus of advertisers including Apple, Disney, IBM and Lionsgate Entertainment amid controversy over the level of hate speech and misinformation on the platform, as well as comments from Mr. Musk himself. I’ve done it.
The social media platform is also being monitored by the European Union, which has launched an investigation into the company for alleged violations of the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) related to content related to Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.
