Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) suffered a legal setback as it failed to block a California law requiring social media giants to publicly disclose their content moderation practices. The company had sued the state in September, arguing the law violated its First Amendment rights and placed an undue burden on its operations.
As per a report in news agency Reuters, a US district judge dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that the transparency requirements, while substantial, were justified and well within the bounds of free speech protection.
“Reporting on content moderation practices does not unfairly silence social media companies. In fact, it empowers users with crucial information to make informed decisions about where they engage online,” the judge said.
What is California law
As per the California law, social media companies are required to submit semi-annual reports, detailing their content moderation policies, the number of flagged posts and how they were handled. The move is seen as a landmark effort to hold social media platforms accountable for their decisions in shaping online discourse.
X, which remained tight-lipped about the ruling, may face consequences for refusing to comply with the law’s reporting requirements.
Problems for X in Europe
Recently, the microblogging platform faced scrutiny in Europe after being investigated by the EU under the Digital Services Act (DSA). The investigation stems from concerns about its handling of misinformation and harmful content following the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The European Commission announced that it has opened an investigation into the matter after warning the company in October.
“Following the terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel, we have indications of X/Twitter being used to disseminate illegal content & disinformation in the EU,” wrote Thierry Breton, commissioner for internal market of the European Union in a post on X.