Washington – The Computer & Communications Industry Association and its co-plaintiff NetChoice are headed back to federal court Tuesday in their case against SB7072, Florida’s social media law, for the first time since a seminal Supreme Court ruling last July. The Supreme Court confirmed that online speech, including editorial decisions about online speech, deserve First Amendment protection—it sent our challenge to the Florida social media law back to the lower court for further examination.
The First Amendment protects against any governmental entity that attempts either to prohibit speech or, as SB7072 does, to force people or businesses to issue or display particular speech.
The Supreme Court instructed the parties to return to the Florida court to litigate the scope of the First Amendment challenge and move to the merits of plaintiffs’ claims. Instead of following that direction, the state of Florida moved to dismiss the case on technical grounds, and that motion is scheduled for argument Tuesday before Judge Hinkle in the Northern District of Florida.
The following can be attributed to Stephanie Joyce, Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff, who is the Director of CCIA’s Litigation Center:
“Despite the Supreme Court’s clear declaration that Florida’s social media law likely violates the Constitution, Florida is trying to get our lawsuit tossed out on a baseless technicality. This tactic is a distraction and a waste of time and taxpayer dollars. We look forward to proving our First Amendment claim by demonstrating the many ways Florida SB7072 unlawfully restricts online speech.”
