Washington – The Computer & Communications Industry Association and the Software Information Industry Association have filed a joint amicus brief in the Court of Appeals for the State of New York, arguing that the algorithms that help determine what information is displayed in a person’s social media feed are protected free speech. The trade associations have sought the opportunity to provide views in Patterson v. Meta because algorithms are used to implement expressive choices about how to curate and display content, and such editorial choices are protected from government interference by the First Amendment.
The brief explains that other cases, including the Supreme Court, have recognized companies’ ability to make these editorial choices apply to online communications and that once a social media company decides what content should be shown, a programmer translates that information into code. The brief states that the “choices a website makes about which signals to weigh and how to rank what its users see are as varied—and as expressive—as the websites themselves. Those expressive choices are protected by the First Amendment.”
CCIA has advocated for free speech online for more than 25 years.
The following can be attributed to CCIA President and CEO Matt Schruers:
“This case has implications for any site that uses algorithms. Both the First Amendment and Section 230 provide protections for the decisions websites make regarding what third-party content to display and how to display it. Previous courts have concluded that these protections exist independent of the technology used. Editorial choices do not lose First Amendment protection when they are implemented in code.”
