Elon Musk’s X Corp. filed a lawsuit against New York on Tuesday, arguing that a new law mandating that social media companies publicly disclose their policies for addressing hate speech, extremism, disinformation, harassment, and "foreign political interference" violates the U.S. Constitution.
Known as the "Stop Hiding Hate Act," the legislation was developed by two New York state Democrat lawmakers in collaboration with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and signed into law by Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul.
The law is scheduled to take effect this week.
The suit, filed in Manhattan federal court, X (formerly Twitter) contends New York's law subjects it to lawsuits and potentially large fines unless it discloses "highly sensitive and controversial speech" that the First Amendment protects — regardless of whether New York Democrat lawmakers, and of course Kathy Hochul, like it or not.
X said New York's law was based on a nearly identical California law, the enforcement of which was partially blocked by a federal appeals court in September 2024, due to free speech concerns.
X Corp. convinced a federal appeals court that a California law requiring social media companies to disclose their content moderation and hate speech policies is likely unconstitutional.
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled ... that the Elon Musk-owned platform should get a preliminary injunction against the state law known as AB 587, reversing a lower court decision.
The law’s requirement that platforms submit to the state a Content Category Report providing their definitions of hate speech, extremism, disinformation, and other types of speech is likely a violation of the First Amendment, the three-judge panel for the appeals court said.
In its filing contesting the new New York law, X said (emphasis, mine):
The state is impermissibly trying to generate public controversy about content moderation in a way that will pressure social media companies, such as X Corp., to restrict, limit, disfavor or censor certain constitutionally protected content on X that the state dislikes.
Exactly.
As we well know, the meaning of terms like "hate speech," "extremism," "disinformation," "harassment," and so forth, are in the eye of the beholder, and as we've seen far more times than we can remember, "all of the above," in the eyes of the left (including the Democrat Party), can be boiled down to facts, data, news, and commentary that the left doesn't like — opinions and facts that run counter to the Democrat Party's initiatives and narratives
Let's do something a bit different, here:
Let's first look at the "plusses" of the New York law, and then the "minuses" — in the eyes of stakeholders on both sides of the argument.
First, from New York state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assembly member Grace Lee, sponsors of the "Stop Hiding Hate Act":
Now more than ever, with the rise in political violence and threats emanating from the spread of hate speech and disinformation by President Trump and Elon Musk, New Yorkers deserve to know what social media companies like X are doing (or not doing) to stop the spread of hatred and misinformation on their platforms.
[...]
The fact that Elon Musk would go to these lengths to avoid disclosing straightforward information to New Yorkers as required by our statute illustrates exactly why we need the Stop Hiding Hate Act.
Oh, the irony!
From a party that has called both Trump and Musk "white supremacist," Trump, a "fascist," Musk, a "Nazi," and worse, and claimed that Trump wants to end elections and put his "enemies" in internment camps, no less. It goes on and on.
Next, the "minuses" of such a law:
This law attempts to force platforms like X into removing or limiting speech and content that the state disagrees with. That patently violates the First Amendment which is why X is taking the state to court.
The valid argument — as was decided in the earlier-mentioned California case — is the correct position. One needs only to look for examples of the left calling for the censorship of, for example, the drivel and lies spewed on MSNBC or ABC's ridiculous "The View" on a daily basis, as proof that it's only conservative content these hypocrites want to silence.
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Did I mention that the X lawsuit quoted a letter from the two New York legislators who sponsored the law which said X and Musk in particular had a "disturbing record" on content moderation "that threatens the foundations of our democracy?"
Oh, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who enforces the state's laws, is the named defendant in X's lawsuit. Her office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
I know — try to control your shock and amazement.
