A new Minnesota proposal stands poised to follow Texas and Florida in violating centuries of First Amendment protections against government compelling or blocking speech. The proposed legislation raises similar concerns to cases the Supreme Court heard last month to block Texas and Florida social media laws on constitutional grounds. These bills (HF 4400/SF 4696) put Minnesotans at risk of more government control over online speech.
Many people forget that the First Amendment not only safeguards private individuals or companies from having the government intrude on their speech – it also protects them from being compelled to speak or publish content.
The Minnesota bills would put a layer of government control over the decisions a variety of websites make about what content people see. It also would require covered services to implement a ranking system for “high” or “low” quality content, a feature many companies already use to curb dangerous content, from hate speech to foreign propaganda to spam.
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