Supreme Court sends challenge to Florida, Texas laws restricting social media regulation back to lower courts

The Supreme Court declined to rule Monday on challenges to laws out of Florida and Texas that curtail content regulation by social media giants, a rule meant to protect conservative voices on major platforms like Facebook and X.

In a unanimous decision for the combined NetChoice v. Paxton and Moody v. NetChoice cases authored by liberal Justice Elana Kagan, the high court concluded that neither of the lower courts which considered the laws “conducted a proper analysis of the facial First Amendment challenges.”

Florida and Texas drafted laws regulating social media companies’ moderation policies after former President Donald Trump was kicked off Facebook and X, then known as Twitter, following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. He has since been allowed back on both platforms.