A U.S. district judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk's X, formerly Twitter, which challenged a New York state law requiring social media companies to disclose how they monitor hate speech and other problematic content. U.S. District Judge John Cronan in Manhattan rejected X's argument that the Stop Hiding Hate Act violated the First Amendment by potentially exposing the company to lawsuits and significant fines if it did not disclose certain speech it found objectionable.
The judge stated that requiring X to report "purely factual and uncontroversial information" about its content moderation policies was reasonably related to New York's interest in allowing users to make informed choices about social media platforms. He drew an analogy to businesses disclosing factual information like calorie counts, which does not infringe on their discretion regarding their offerings.
The dismissal was with prejudice, meaning X cannot amend its complaint. Lawyers for X and its parent company, SpaceX, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, which defended the law, also did not immediately comment.
Governor Kathy Hochul signed the law in December 2024. It mandates that social media companies with at least $100 million in annual revenue disclose their methods for eliminating hate on their platforms and report on their progress. Violations can result in civil fines of up to $15,000 per day. The Anti-Defamation League assisted in drafting the legislation.
During the legal proceedings, the Attorney General's office argued that the law helps consumers understand platform policies without preventing companies from speaking or exercising judgment in content moderation. Musk, who acquired Twitter in 2022 and has described himself as a proponent of free speech absolutism, subsequently scrapped the company's previous content moderation policies.