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A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in
San Francisco overturned a lower court judge's decision
declining to pause enforcement of the new California law.
The law requires large social media companies to issue public
reports describing their content moderation practices and to
provide data on the number of objectionable posts and how they
were addressed.
Musk sued last year to stop the law from taking effect, claiming
it violated speech protections under the U.S. Constitution’s
First Amendment.
X and its lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for
comment on the decision. The California attorney general’s
office, which defended the measure, also did not immediately
respond to a request for comment.
X's case is among several legal challenges over the extent of
states' authority to regulate social media companies.
The U.S. Supreme Court in May directed lower courts to reassess
whether social media content moderation laws in Texas and
Florida raised First Amendment concerns.
In X's lawsuit, U.S. District Judge William Shubb in Sacramento
refused to block the California law in December, finding it was
not "unjustified or unduly burdensome within the context of
First Amendment law.”
The appeals court disagreed, holding that the law's requirements
were "more extensive than necessary" to justify the state's goal
of forcing social media companies to be open about their
moderation policies and practices.
The panel said the lower court must review whether the content
moderation part of the law can be carved out from other
provisions.
(Reporting by Mike Scarcella;Editing by David Bario, Leslie
Adler and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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