Florida Law Intended To Prohibit Social Media Platforms From Censoring Certain Speech On Grounds That Social Media Platforms Exercise First Amendment-Protected Editorial Judgment – Social Media | #socialmedia

On May 23, 2022, the United States Court of Appeals for the
Eleventh Circuit decided NetChoice, LLC v. Att’y Gen.,
Fla., 2022 WL 1613291 (11th Cir. May 23, 2022), in which the
court held that most of the provisions in Florida S.B. 7072—a
law intended to prohibit social media platforms, such as Twitter
and Facebook, from censoring certain speech—were
substantially likely to violate the platforms’ First Amendment
free speech rights. Although the law was intended to protect First
Amendment rights—i.e., to protect certain speech from
censorship by social media platforms—the Eleventh Circuit
determined that the law itself violated the First Amendment by
restricting the social media platforms’ right to so censor and
moderate as the platforms saw fit. That kind of content moderation,
the court found, is constitutionally-protected “editorial
judgment.” The court also held that social media platforms are
not “common carriers” with lessened First Amendment
rights. In so holding, the Eleventh Circuit has created a circuit
split, departing from the decision of the United States Court of
Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (just twelve days earlier, on May 11,
2022) to permit enforcement of the substantially similar Texas H.B.
20.It appears likely that the Supreme Court will ultimately weigh
in and provide guidance regarding how the First Amendment should be
applied to these statutes.

CGR Memo – Eleventh Circuit Strikes Down Florida
Law Intended to Prohibit Social Media Platforms from Censoring
Certain Speech.pdf (pdf | 184.33 KB )

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