Berliner Tageblatt - Musk's X sues to block New York social media transparency law

The complaint, filed in a federal court in Manhattan, seeks to halt the law, which X argues violates the First Amendment by forcing platforms to disclose sensitive information about their content moderation practices.

"Today, @X filed a First Amendment lawsuit against a New York law, NY S895B," X's Global Government Affairs team posted Tuesday, adding that it had successfully challenged a similar law in California.

"X is the only platform fighting for its users by challenging the law, and we are confident we will prevail in this case as well," the company said.

The New York law requires social media companies with over $100 million in annual revenue to submit semiannual reports detailing how they define and moderate hate speech, racism, extremism, disinformation and harassment.

Companies face fines of $15,000 per day for violations, which can be sought by the attorney general's office.

X says the law is "an impermissible attempt by the State to inject itself into the content-moderation editorial process" and seeks to pressure platforms into restricting constitutionally protected speech.

- 'Stop Hiding Hate' -

Reporters Without Borders said in a statement that asking X "account for their actions against misinformation is by no means an infringement of freedom of expression, but the bare minimum to clean up the digital space."

"Freedom of expression does not come without responsibilities," it added.

The lawsuit comes after X successfully challenged a nearly identical California law last year, according to the filing. New York's law is "a carbon copy" of the California provisions that were struck down, the filing adds.

X claims New York lawmakers refused to discuss changes to the bill after the California ruling, with sponsors saying they declined to meet because of content on X promoted by owner Musk that "threatens the foundations of our democracy."

The company argues this indicated "viewpoint discriminatory motives" behind the law's passage.

Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assembly member Grace Lee -- who introduced the law -- said in a statement that their act "does not infringe upon the First Amendment rights of social media companies, nor does it conflict with federal law."

"Instead, the Stop Hiding Hate Act requires narrowly tailored disclosures by social media companies to allow consumers to better decide which social media platforms they utilize," they added.

"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."

W.Lapointe--BTB