In a surprising move, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter—X Corp.—has outdone them all by suing the state of New York. They are suing a new law that would force social media companies to disclose how they manage hate speech and other divisive content. This lawsuit follows just nine months after the platform’s successful efforts to strike down a similar law in California.
Elon Musk purchased X in 2022. Since then, he’s taken a flamethrower to platform’s content moderation guidelines, blowing up the regulations regarding what users can and cannot do. On December 6th, New York passed the Stop Hiding Hate Act. This bill would hold social media companies, including X, publicly accountable by requiring them to report their progress or lack thereof in addressing hate speech on their platforms.
In its lawsuit filed on Tuesday, X argues that the law infringes upon First Amendment rights by compelling companies to expose “highly sensitive and controversial speech.” The platform has criticized New York lawmakers for not revisiting the law’s language despite a previous ruling that largely invalidated California’s similar requirements.
The organization suing on behalf of the individual plaintiffs THE DREAM DEFENDERS. Specifically, it’s suing to stop New York Attorney General Letitia James, who’s supposed to enforce the law, from enforcing it. Senator Hoylman-Sigal and Assemblymember Grace Lee are sponsoring the Stop Hiding Hate Act. They have condemned social media networks—including most notably X (formerly Twitter)—for creating what they’ve referred to as “cesspools of hate speech.” They contend that these companies “have consistently failed to inform the public about their policies regarding hatred and misinformation.”
Elon Musk’s X claims that the New York statute exceeds the bounds of First Amendment violations. It does so by forcing the disclosure of rights protected speech. The company publicly cited its previous win in California often throughout the legal battle.
“This issue engenders considerable debate among reasonable people about where to draw the correct proverbial line.” – X
Over the past few years, millions of Americans have made X their main news source. It’s how a large and growing share of the public gets its news and information these days. The Stop Hiding Hate Act goes much further. It would redefine national content moderation legal norms, forcing social media companies to gut content moderation and develop hate speech policies everywhere.