Tech groups ask Supreme Court to hear case on Florida social media law

Tech industry groups asked the Supreme Court to hear a case on a Florida law that could help shape the future of how companies are allowed to moderate content online. 

The Computer and Communications Association (CCIA) and NetChoice petitioned the Supreme Court on Monday to review a case about Florida’s law, which would limit companies from being able to remove content and users that violate their policies. 

The tech industry groups, which include companies like Meta, Twitter and Google among their members, asked the highest court to hear the case on whether Florida’s law complies with the First Amendment.

The groups argue the law “openly abridges the targeted companies’ First Amendment right to exercise editorial judgment over what content to disseminate on their websites via requirements that are speaker-based, content-based, and viewpoint-discriminatory,” according to the petition.

Florida’s law seeks to prohibit tech companies from banning users or moderating content based on political views, building on the mounting accusations from Republicans that tech platforms are censoring content based on anti-conservative biases. 

Major provisions of the law were blocked by a court of appeals, and the state of Florida also asked the Supreme Court in September to hear a case on the law. 

Lower courts have ruled differently on the topic as state laws dictating content moderation pop up. A court of appeals upheld a similar Texas law that restricts social media companies from removing users or violative content. 

In part, the state of Florida’s petition cites the conflicting decisions from the circuit courts. 

CCIA President Matt Schruers said that as “more governments line up to control online speech, it is vital that the Supreme Court hear this case to uphold principles of free expression.”

“We have every reason to believe the Justices will see the threat the Florida law presents to long standing principles of U.S. democracy and agree to hear this case,” Schruers said in a statement.