Washington, Sept 9: Elon Musk’s X Corp, formerly known as Twitter, filed a lawsuit challenging the California’s Assembly Bill 587 for allegedly infringing upon its First Amendment rights.
“AB 587 violates the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 2, of the California Constitution because it compels companies like X Corp. to engage in speech against their will,” the lawsuit, filed on Friday by X Corp, said.
Assembly Bill 587, signed into law in September of the previous year, mandates that websites and online services collecting personally identifiable information from California users must publicly disclose their privacy policies, according to the document filed with the US District Court, Eastern District of California, Sacramento Division.
Moreover, AB 587 was presented by lawmakers as a measure to combat extremism, hate speech, and misinformation online, the court document revealed.
The lawsuit further contends that the law unjustly burdens social media companies, pressuring them to remove or restrict constitutionally protected content deemed undesirable by the state.
In addition, the lawsuit highlights a contrast between the state’s characterization of the law as a mere “transparency measure” and statements from the legislation’s authors and supporters, which suggest a different intent.
A California assembly report referenced in the lawsuit indicates that disclosing content moderation practices may pressure social media companies to combat hate speech and disinformation.
(UNI)
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