Stellar Snippets
With the new term of the Supreme Court beginning on Oct. 2, it will be arguing whether state laws seeking social media regulation violate the Constitution.
These laws were enacted by Republican-dominated legislatures and signed by the governors of Florida and Texas.
With slight variations in details, both laws seek to prevent social media companies like TikTok, X, and Facebook from censoring users for their viewpoints.
The Republican argument is that social media companies have largely censored conservative viewpoints, not explaining their decision clearly.
Trade groups representing social media platforms said that this would make it hard to regulate foreign propaganda, harassment, and misinformation.
The argument largely cites the First Amendment which bars the government from influencing private entities' decisions to publish any content.
Neither law is in effect as the appeals court blocked the Florida law last year and the Supreme Court blocked the Texas law in May.
The justices will also be deciding on the issue of critics' comments on public officials' social media accounts, which had come up in a past Donald Trump case.