Coerced, censored, shut down: How will Supreme Court manage social media's toxic sludge?
from USAToday
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/09/22/facebook-x-supreme-court-censorship-coercion-social-media/70796180007/
WASHINGTON – Looking back on it, Philip Cohen takes a measure of pride in the fact that he was blocked by the former president of the United States. But in that moment in 2017, when Cohen pulled up Donald Trump's feed on what was then known as Twitter and realized what happened, he didn't feel smug or vindicated. He felt muted. "I was honestly shocked," said Cohen, a sociologist who was blocked after repeatedly posting criticism of Trump's tweets and who responded by suing the former president and claiming that the move violated the First Amendment. Cohen said his snarky posts were like "carrying a sign at a protest – but with a much bigger audience."
Though the Supreme Court dodged Cohen's appeal in 2021, the justices now have another opportunity to decide whether public officials may block Americans on social media. It's one of several cases pending at the high court with potentially enormous consequences for the way Americans interact on the internet. Legal experts say the Supreme Court term that begins next month could also be the most important in decades in determining the extent of the government's power to regulate the online content.
At stake in one set of cases is whether the First Amendment shields social media platforms for their handling of controversial voices and views. The question is critical as Facebook, YouTube and X play an ever growing role in the lives of Americans and democracy. Yet another case questions whether the Biden administration crossed a line when officials pressured the platforms to remove posts dealing with COVID-19 and elections.
more at:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/09/22/facebook-x-supreme-court-censorship-coercion-social-media/70796180007/
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