Judge tears Florida’s social media law to shreds for violating First Amendment
A federal judge has blocked Florida's new social media law because it violates the First Amendment rights of tech companies that moderate user content on their online platforms. The state law would make it illegal for large social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to ban politicians and impose other restrictions on the tech companies, but the judge's order means it cannot be enforced while an industry lawsuit against Florida is pending. The law would have taken effect today if not for the injunction.
The preliminary-injunction order issued by US District Judge Robert Hinkle yesterday called Florida's law "an instance of burning the house to roast a pig."
"If a preliminary injunction is not issued, the plaintiffs' members will sometimes be compelled to speak and will sometimes be forbidden from speaking, all in violation of their editorial judgment and the First Amendment," Hinkle wrote. The tech companies would sometimes be forbidden from speaking because the Florida law's definition of censorship includes not only deleting content, but also "post[ing] an addendum to any content or material posted by a user."
For several reasons outlined by the judge, the trade groups that sued Florida "are likely to prevail on the merits of their claim that these statutes violate the First Amendment," Hinkle wrote. "There is nothing that could be severed and survive." The judge's order "preliminarily enjoins enforcement of the parts of the legislation that are preempted or violate the First Amendment," he wrote.
