Latest news with #StopHidingHateAct


eNCA
2 days ago
- Business
- eNCA
Musk's X sues to block New York social media transparency law
Elon Musk's X Corp. has filed a lawsuit challenging a New York state law that requires social media companies to report how they moderate hate speech and disinformation. The complaint, filed in a federal court in Manhattan, seeks to halt the law, which X argues violates the First Amendment by forcing platforms to disclose sensitive information about their content moderation practices. "Today, @X filed a First Amendment lawsuit against a New York law, NY S895B," X's Global Government Affairs team posted Tuesday, adding that it had successfully challenged a similar law in California. "X is the only platform fighting for its users by challenging the law, and we are confident we will prevail in this case as well," the company said. The New York law requires social media companies with over $100 million in annual revenue to submit semiannual reports detailing how they define and moderate hate speech, racism, extremism, disinformation and harassment. Companies face fines of $15,000 per day for violations, which can be sought by the attorney general's office. X says the law is "an impermissible attempt by the State to inject itself into the content-moderation editorial process" and seeks to pressure platforms into restricting constitutionally protected speech. - 'Stop Hiding Hate' - Reporters Without Borders said in a statement that asking X "account for their actions against misinformation is by no means an infringement of freedom of expression, but the bare minimum to clean up the digital space." "Freedom of expression does not come without responsibilities," it added. The lawsuit comes after X successfully challenged a nearly identical California law last year, according to the filing. New York's law is "a carbon copy" of the California provisions that were struck down, the filing adds. X claims New York lawmakers refused to discuss changes to the bill after the California ruling, with sponsors saying they declined to meet because of content on X promoted by owner Musk that "threatens the foundations of our democracy." The company argues this indicated "viewpoint discriminatory motives" behind the law's passage. Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assembly member Grace Lee -- who introduced the law -- said in a statement that their act "does not infringe upon the First Amendment rights of social media companies, nor does it conflict with federal law." "Instead, the Stop Hiding Hate Act requires narrowly tailored disclosures by social media companies to allow consumers to better decide which social media platforms they utilize," they added.


Japan Today
2 days ago
- Business
- Japan Today
X sues to block New York social media transparency law
Elon Musk's X argues in a federal lawsuit that a New York state law requiring social media companies to report how they moderate hate speech and disinformation violates First Amendment protections Elon Musk's X Corp. has filed a lawsuit challenging a New York state law that requires social media companies to report how they moderate hate speech and disinformation. The complaint, filed in a federal court in Manhattan, seeks to halt the law, which X argues violates the First Amendment by forcing platforms to disclose sensitive information about their content moderation practices. "Today, @X filed a First Amendment lawsuit against a New York law, NY S895B," X's Global Government Affairs team posted Tuesday, adding that it had successfully challenged a similar law in California. "X is the only platform fighting for its users by challenging the law, and we are confident we will prevail in this case as well," the company said. The New York law requires social media companies with over $100 million in annual revenue to submit semiannual reports detailing how they define and moderate hate speech, racism, extremism, disinformation and harassment. Companies face fines of $15,000 per day for violations, which can be sought by the attorney general's office. X says the law is "an impermissible attempt by the State to inject itself into the content-moderation editorial process" and seeks to pressure platforms into restricting constitutionally protected speech. Reporters Without Borders said in a statement that asking X "account for their actions against misinformation is by no means an infringement of freedom of expression, but the bare minimum to clean up the digital space." "Freedom of expression does not come without responsibilities," it added. The lawsuit comes after X successfully challenged a nearly identical California law last year, according to the filing. New York's law is "a carbon copy" of the California provisions that were struck down, the filing adds. X claims New York lawmakers refused to discuss changes to the bill after the California ruling, with sponsors saying they declined to meet because of content on X promoted by owner Musk that "threatens the foundations of our democracy." The company argues this indicated "viewpoint discriminatory motives" behind the law's passage. Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assembly member Grace Lee -- who introduced the law -- said in a statement that their act "does not infringe upon the First Amendment rights of social media companies, nor does it conflict with federal law." "Instead, the Stop Hiding Hate Act requires narrowly tailored disclosures by social media companies to allow consumers to better decide which social media platforms they utilize," they added. "The fact that Elon Musk would go to these lengths to avoid disclosing straightforward information to New Yorkers as required by our statute illustrates exactly why we need the Stop Hiding Hate Act." © 2025 AFP


Int'l Business Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Int'l Business Times
Musk's X Sues To Block New York Social Media Transparency Law
Elon Musk's X Corp. has filed a lawsuit challenging a New York state law that requires social media companies to report how they moderate hate speech and disinformation. The complaint, filed in a federal court in Manhattan, seeks to halt the law, which X argues violates the First Amendment by forcing platforms to disclose sensitive information about their content moderation practices. "Today, @X filed a First Amendment lawsuit against a New York law, NY S895B," X's Global Government Affairs team posted Tuesday, adding that it had successfully challenged a similar law in California. "X is the only platform fighting for its users by challenging the law, and we are confident we will prevail in this case as well," the company said. The New York law requires social media companies with over $100 million in annual revenue to submit semiannual reports detailing how they define and moderate hate speech, racism, extremism, disinformation and harassment. Companies face fines of $15,000 per day for violations, which can be sought by the attorney general's office. X says the law is "an impermissible attempt by the State to inject itself into the content-moderation editorial process" and seeks to pressure platforms into restricting constitutionally protected speech. Reporters Without Borders said in a statement that asking X "account for their actions against misinformation is by no means an infringement of freedom of expression, but the bare minimum to clean up the digital space." "Freedom of expression does not come without responsibilities," it added. The lawsuit comes after X successfully challenged a nearly identical California law last year, according to the filing. New York's law is "a carbon copy" of the California provisions that were struck down, the filing adds. X claims New York lawmakers refused to discuss changes to the bill after the California ruling, with sponsors saying they declined to meet because of content on X promoted by owner Musk that "threatens the foundations of our democracy." The company argues this indicated "viewpoint discriminatory motives" behind the law's passage. Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assembly member Grace Lee -- who introduced the law -- said in a statement that their act "does not infringe upon the First Amendment rights of social media companies, nor does it conflict with federal law." "Instead, the Stop Hiding Hate Act requires narrowly tailored disclosures by social media companies to allow consumers to better decide which social media platforms they utilize," they added. "The fact that Elon Musk would go to these lengths to avoid disclosing straightforward information to New Yorkers as required by our statute illustrates exactly why we need the Stop Hiding Hate Act."


France 24
2 days ago
- Business
- France 24
Musk's X sues to block New York social media transparency law
The complaint, filed in a federal court in Manhattan, seeks to halt the law, which X argues violates the First Amendment by forcing platforms to disclose sensitive information about their content moderation practices. "Today, @X filed a First Amendment lawsuit against a New York law, NY S895B," X's Global Government Affairs team posted Tuesday, adding that it had successfully challenged a similar law in California. "X is the only platform fighting for its users by challenging the law, and we are confident we will prevail in this case as well," the company said. The New York law requires social media companies with over $100 million in annual revenue to submit semiannual reports detailing how they define and moderate hate speech, racism, extremism, disinformation and harassment. Companies face fines of $15,000 per day for violations, which can be sought by the attorney general's office. X says the law is "an impermissible attempt by the State to inject itself into the content-moderation editorial process" and seeks to pressure platforms into restricting constitutionally protected speech. 'Stop Hiding Hate' Reporters Without Borders said in a statement that asking X "account for their actions against misinformation is by no means an infringement of freedom of expression, but the bare minimum to clean up the digital space." "Freedom of expression does not come without responsibilities," it added. The lawsuit comes after X successfully challenged a nearly identical California law last year, according to the filing. New York's law is "a carbon copy" of the California provisions that were struck down, the filing adds. X claims New York lawmakers refused to discuss changes to the bill after the California ruling, with sponsors saying they declined to meet because of content on X promoted by owner Musk that "threatens the foundations of our democracy." The company argues this indicated "viewpoint discriminatory motives" behind the law's passage. Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assembly member Grace Lee -- who introduced the law -- said in a statement that their act "does not infringe upon the First Amendment rights of social media companies, nor does it conflict with federal law." "Instead, the Stop Hiding Hate Act requires narrowly tailored disclosures by social media companies to allow consumers to better decide which social media platforms they utilize," they added. "The fact that Elon Musk would go to these lengths to avoid disclosing straightforward information to New Yorkers as required by our statute illustrates exactly why we need the Stop Hiding Hate Act." © 2025 AFP


The Hill
2 days ago
- Business
- The Hill
X sues New York over social media disclosure law
Elon Musk's X sued the state of New York on Tuesday over a law requiring social media sites to detail how they moderate hate speech, extremism, misinformation and other types of content on their platforms. X argues the law, which is set to go into effect Thursday, violates the First Amendment by compelling companies to disclose 'highly sensitive and controversial speech.' 'The law thus impermissibly interferes with the First Amendment-protected editorial judgments of companies such as X Corp. to remove, demonetize, or deprioritize such speech on their platforms,' the lawsuit reads. The measure, known as the Stop Hiding Hate Act, requires social media platforms to publicly post their terms of service, as well as to submit a report to the New York attorney general about their moderation of hate speech, racism, extremism, radicalization, disinformation, misinformation, harassment and foreign political interference. Companies are subject to fines of up to $15,000 a day for failing to comply with the law. Musk's social media site, which he bought as Twitter in 2022, contends the reporting requirements are a 'carbon copy' of provisions of a California law that were blocked in court last year. California ultimately agreed to drop the provisions as part of a settlement with X. New York state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D) and assemblymember Grace Lee (D), who sponsored the measure, argued Tuesday that it does not infringe on social media firms' First Amendment rights and instead requires 'narrowly-tailored' disclosures to help consumers decide between platforms. 'We were proud to sponsor the Stop Hiding Hate Act, in partnership with the Anti-Defamation League, because social media companies, including X, are cesspools of hate speech consisting of antisemitism, racism, Islamophobia and anti-LGBTQ bias, yet those platforms have consistently failed to inform the public about their policies regarding hatred and misinformation,' they said in a joint statement. 'We're confident that the court will reject this attempt by X to use the First Amendment as a shield against providing New Yorkers with much needed transparency around their conduct,' the lawmakers added. New York has passed several measures in recent years taking aim at the potential harms associated with social media platforms. Last June, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed into law a bill requiring platforms to restrict addictive feeds for kids. State lawmakers also approved a measure Tuesday requiring warning labels for social media platforms. The bill now heads to Hochul's desk for signing.