Platform X Failed To Block California Law On Content Moderation

On Thursday, December 28, X, formerly known as Twitter, failed to get in the way of a California state law requiring social media companies to publicly disclose how they moderate certain content on their platforms.

In September, X sued California to overturn the content moderation law, stating that the law violated their right to free speech, based on the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and the California state constitution.

The law requires social media companies with large annual revenues to publish half-year reports explaining the practice of content moderation, and providing data on the number of posts deemed inappropriate and how to handle them.

US District Judge William Shubb in an eight-page decision rejected the social media company's request.

"Although this reporting requirement appears to provide substantial compliance burdens for social media companies, it seems that these requirements are not justified or too burdensome in the context of First Amendment law," Shubb wrote.

X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Shubb will meet with lawyers in this case on February 26 for a scheduling conference.

Shubb declared the requirements for "use requirements" of the law as important and said their existence could be the main determining factor for users.

X has been in the spotlight regarding its content moderation rules, with many companies stopping ads on the platform. Since Musk took over X in October 2022, his monthly ad revenue in the United States has fallen by at least 55% year after month, according to third-party data provided to Reuters in October.

The social media platform is also facing research in Europe. The European Union this month announced that it was investigating X for alleged violations of obligations, partly related to uploads following Hamas' attack on Israel, their first investigation under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

After Hamas' attack on October 7 on Israel, X and other social media companies were hit by false images and misleading information. X said he remains committed to complying with the DSA and working closely with the regulatory process.