Elon Musk’s X sues New York over social media content moderation law: Here's what both sides say…

Elon Musk ’s X, formerly known as Twitter, on June 17 filed a suit against the city of New York to block its new requirements on content moderation, i.e. how social media platforms handle problematic posts, as per an AP report.

The law, signed off in late 2024 by Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul, will come into effect later this year. Notably, the company has earlier successfully challenged a similar law in California, the report added.

The report added that New York Attorney General Letitia James' office did not respond to queries till time of writing.

What is stance taken by Elon Musk's X?

X claims that the law infringes on free speech rights, and cited a 1996 federal law that, among other things, lets internet platforms moderate posts as they see fit.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, argues that New York is improperly trying “to inject itself into the content-moderation editorial process” by requiring “politically charged disclosures”, the report noted.

“The state is impermissibly trying to generate public controversy about content moderation in a way that will pressure social media companies, such as X Corp., to restrict, limit, disfavor or censor certain constitutionally protected content on X that the state dislikes,” it further states.

What is New York's law and its requirements?

• The law seeks bi-annual reports from social media companies on whether and how they define hate speech, racist or extremist content, disinformation and some other terms.
• It also requires companies to detail their content moderation practices, provide updates on the number of posts they flagged, what action was taken, reach of the offending post, and more.
• According to Democratic Sponsors, Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assembly Member Grace Lee, the law aims to hold companies accountable and make social media more transparent.

Alleges against Elon Musk since taking helm of ‘Twitter’

Elon Musk's X, has been particularly scrutinised in recent years for a “disturbing record” that “threatens the foundations of our democracy”, according to lawmakers.

Since taking over erstwhile Twitter in 2022, the billionaire and world's richest man has dismantled the company’s Trust and Safety advisory group and stopped enforcing content moderation and hate speech rules that the site followed, citing violation of free speech, they said.

They added that outside groups have documented a rise in hate speech and harassment on the platform.

(With inputs from AP)