Washington — The Computer & Communications Industry Association has co-filed a motion for preliminary injunction with NetChoice, asking a Tallahassee federal district court to block an unconstitutional state law from taking effect next month. The motion follows the two plaintiffs’ lawsuit last week, which challenged the measure.
The Florida law infringes on rights of freedom of speech, equal protection, and due process, as protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution. In the absence of judicial action, digital services would struggle to comply with the Florida law while also protecting their users and services from dangerous or unlawful content.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association supports free speech online, which includes the right for private businesses to meet their users’ expectations about what type of material is appropriate for their community.
The following can be attributed to CCIA President Matt Schruers:
“By binding the hands of digital services fighting dangerous content online, this law would give free rein to bad actors ranging from anti-American extremists to online predators. At the same time, when a digital service decides that Nazi political candidates are unwelcome on its platform, it is exercising its free speech rights, and this law violates that Constitutional protection. That is why we filed this motion this week.”