Elon Musk’s X Corp. sued California to block a law requiring social media companies to publish their content moderation policies, alleging it violates the First Amendment and coerces censorship.
X, formerly known as Twitter, asserted that California’s Assembly Bill 587 infringes upon its freedom of speech under the First Amendment and California’s state constitution, according to court documents.
The law mandates social media companies release reports on how they moderate issues including hate speech, extremism, disinformation and misinformation.
However, the law would have “both the purpose and likely effect of pressuring companies such as X Corp. to remove, demonetize, or deprioritize constitutionally-protected speech that the State deems undesirable or harmful, and places an unjustified and undue burden on social media companies such as X Corp.,” the complaint states.
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“The legislative record is crystal clear that one of the main purposes of AB 587 — if not the main purpose — is to pressure social media companies to eliminate or minimize content that the government has deemed objectionable,” the complaint adds.
X is seeking a ruling to assess AB 587’s legitimacy in order to prevent negative consequences resulting from its enactment.
“Such a determination is both necessary and appropriate to avoid the deprivation of X Corp.’s constitutional rights, which would occur if AB 587 is applied to X. Corp.,” the complaint asserts.
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