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X,
formerly known as Twitter, in September sued California to undo
the content moderation law, saying the law violated its free
speech rights under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment and
California's state constitution.
The law requires social media companies with a sizable gross
annual revenue to issue semiannual reports that describe their
content moderation practices, and provide data on the number of
objectionable posts and how they were addressed.
U.S. District Judge William Shubb in an eight-page decision
dismissed the social media company's request.
"While the reporting requirement does appear to place a
substantial compliance burden on social medial companies, it
does not appear that the requirement is unjustified or unduly
burdensome within the context of First Amendment law," Shubb
wrote.
X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Shubb will meet with the lawyers in the case on Feb. 26 for a
scheduling conference.
Shubb held "terms of service" requirements of the law to be
integral and said their presence could be a major deciding
factor for users.
X has been under fire regarding its content moderation rules,
with many companies pausing advertising on the platform. Since
Musk took over X in October 2022, its monthly U.S. ad revenue
declined at least 55% year-over-year each month, according to
third-party data provided to Reuters in October.
The social media platform also faces scrutiny in Europe. The
European Union earlier this month said it was investigating X
over suspected breaches of obligations, partly relating to posts
following Hamas' attacks on Israel, its first probe under the
Digital Services Act (DSA).
Following Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, X and other social
media companies were flooded with fake images and misleading
information.
X said it remains committed to complying with the DSA and is
cooperating with the regulatory process.
The case is X Corp v Bonta, U.S. District Court, Eastern
District of California, No. 2:23-cv--01939.
(Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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