Elon Musk Vs. Gavin Newsom: X Corp. Sues California's Content Moderation Law

Elon Musk’s X Corp. (previously Twitter Inc.) has initiated a lawsuit against California’s content moderation law, arguing that it violates their First Amendment rights. 

What Happened: X has aimed Assembly Bill No. 587 (AB 587), signed into law by California Governor Gavin Newsom last year. 

This legislation mandates that social media companies publicly disclose their policies regarding hate speech, disinformation, harassment, and extremism on their platforms. 

Additionally, it requires these companies to report data related to enforcing these policies.

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On Friday, X’s Global Government Affairs account publicly shared the lawsuit filing, stating that the law’s “true intent” is to pressure social media platforms into eliminating content deemed problematic by the state. 

They contend that AB 587 infringes upon First Amendment rights by compelling them to engage in discussions “against their will,” curtailing their ability to decide what content to address or ignore.

Today, @X filed a First Amendment lawsuit against California AB 587. As made clear by both the legislative history and public court submissions from the Attorney General in defending the law, the true intent of AB 587 is to pressure social media platforms to "eliminate" certain…

— Global Government Affairs (@GlobalAffairs) September 8, 2023

California state assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, the bill’s author, stated, “Assembly Bill 587 is a pure transparency measure that simply requires companies to be upfront about if and how they are moderating content,” adding, “If Twitter has nothing to hide, then they should have no objection to this bill,” reported The Hill. 

Why It’s Important: Musk acquired Twitter, now rebranded as X, for $44 billion in October 2022. The company made significant workforce reductions following his takeover, including the platform’s content moderation team. 

The tech billionaire has also reinstated several accounts — including rapper Kanye West, who now goes by the name “Ye,” and former President Donald Trump — that were banned under the prior management’s policies. 

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