Will Content Moderation Survive at SCOTUS Next Week?
Plus common carriage, California’s age-appropriate design code, from the Moon to Mars, and more…
Content Moderation: On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in a pair of huge cases for internet speech. At issue is whether Texas and Florida may order large social media platforms to host and amplify speech against their will. We’ve got loads of coverage on the case ahead of the hearing:
Writing in The Hill, Andy made a key point about Florida’s and Texas’s social media laws: Content moderation itself is an exercise of free speech.
At Techdirt, Corbin argued that Elon Musk (of all people) is these red-state laws’ worst enemy. His behavior has badly undermined Florida’s and Texas’s legal theory.
On Substack, Corbin explained why it was “judicial activism” for one of the judges in Texas’s appeal, in the court below, to declare that social media platforms are common carriers. (Don’t miss the article’s Buster Keaton cameo.)
Podcast: On the latest Tech Policy Podcast, Corbin talked with Brandon Gorrell, Executive Editor at Pirate Wires, about The White Pill, his optimistic (and mind-blowing) newsletter covering “the frontiers of tech, science, space, and more.”
California Age-Appropriate Design Code: Trade publication Biometric Update quoted Corbin on California’s embattled attempt to age-gate the Internet: “‘Protect the children!’ Internet laws may be good politics, but they’re a disaster for the children they’re supposed to serve,” he said.
Space: It’s a busy week for outer space policy. Jim attended NASA’s Moon to Mars workshop today, and tomorrow he’ll be at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s summit on retooling the space industry. There he’ll touch on our earlier comments on NASA’s Moon to Mars Objectives.
Upcoming Events: On Monday, February 26, American University’s Washington College of Law will host Corbin for an event (registration required) featuring counsel of record and counsel for selected amici in the Florida and Texas content moderation cases.
On Wednesday, February 28, the Cato Institute will also host a live and virtual event on the legal challenges to Florida’s and Texas’s social media content moderation laws. Corbin will again join a group of expert panelists.
If only content moderation were this easy.