Musk’s X Sues New York Over Law Requiring Disclosure of Hate Speech Policies

Musk’s X Sues New York Over Law Requiring Disclosure of Hate Speech Policies

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the Elon Musk
Podcast. This is a show where we discuss
the critical crossroads that shape SpaceX, Tesla X, The
Boring Company and Neurolink. I'm your host, Will Walden.
Elon Musk's social media platform X has filed A lawsuit
against New York State this week, challenging a law that

(00:22):
demands social media companies disclose how they handle hate
speech, extremism, and other divisive content.
The core question that emerges is whether the government can
compel platforms to reveal theirmoderation practices without
actually violating constitutional protections.
X argues that this law undermines free speech rights

(00:43):
and forces platforms to publish information about sensitive and
controversial speech that falls under First Amendment
protections. Now, this legal clash marks
another chapter in Elon Musk's ongoing battle against
regulatory oversight of his platform's content policies.
Now, X submitted the lawsuit on Tuesday in a New York federal

(01:04):
court. The company, which Musk acquired
in 2022 when it was still known as Twitter, claims that New York
law intrudes on free expression.The law in question, known as
the Stop Hiding Hate Act, passedin December.
It requires social media companies to detail the steps
they take to curb hate on their platforms and to report progress

(01:25):
of these efforts. X states that the law imposes
unconstitutional demands by effectively pressuring platforms
to regulate speech in a way thatshould remain beyond government
reach. Now, New York Attorney General
Letitia James, who holds responsibility for enforcing the
Stop Hiding Hate Act, is the name defendant in the lawsuit.

(01:46):
James has not issued a public comment regarding the suit as of
Tuesday. And the law's sponsor, Senator
Brad Hoylman Seigle and Assemblymember Grace Lee
described platforms like X as environments where hate speech
thrives. They said that X and other
companies have repeatedly failedto inform the public about their
policies on hate and misinformation.

(02:08):
They painting that the law does not infringe on 1st Amendment
rights. X's complaint points to a
broader national debate about the government's role in
regulating digital speech. The company asserts that
determining the boundaries of acceptable content is a matter
of ongoing debate among reasonable people and that the
government has no place in this discussion.

(02:29):
X argues that its moderation decisions, including what it
chooses to report, fall under its protected right to free
speech. The lawsuit seeks to block the
state from enforcing the law, and X references its earlier
legal victory in California as aprecedent.
Nine months ago, the company successfully halted the
enforcement of a California law requiring large social media

(02:50):
firms to file reports on their moderation practices.
X claims that New York legislatures failed to adjust
the language of their law even after the California statue was
largely invalidated in court. The company criticizes this as a
refusal to consider the constitutional flaws identified
in similar legislation. The legal dispute comes as

(03:14):
Americans increasingly rely on platforms like X for news
consumption. Data from the Reuters Institute
shows that a majority of Americans get their news from
social media, with X being a keysource.
And this dependence on platformsamplifies the stakes of how
content moderation is handled. Musk's platform maintains that
revealing its policies in detailcould chill free speech by

(03:35):
inviting government interferencein editorial decisions, And Musk
has made sweeping changes to X'scontent policies since taking
over the platform. According to analysis by
Professor Laura Edelson of Northeastern University, Musk
rolled back many of the rules that defined acceptable behavior
on X. She notes that Musk also reduced

(03:56):
the platform's investment in enforcement resources, and as a
result, she explains that while official rules on spam have not
changed, users now encounter much more spam than before.
This shift in approach has drawnattention from lawmakers and
advocacy groups concerned about rising hate speech and
misinformation, and the lawsuit also recalls Musk's earlier

(04:18):
legal fight with a research organization that tracked hate
on X. Last year, a federal judge
dismissed this case, siding withthe group that documented
increases in harmful content. That defeat and the current
lawsuit signal Musk's ongoing legal strategy to challenge
external scrutiny and regulationof his platform XS legal
challenge against New York. As to a growing list of

(04:41):
confrontations between Musk's companies and state level
regulators, each case raises important questions about how
much authority states can exercise over private digital
platforms and where the line lies between regulation and
censorship. The outcome of this case will
determine whether New York can force social media companies to
disclose content moderation practices without violating free

(05:02):
speech rights, and the lawsuit sets up a direct legal contest
or the balance between free expression and Government
Accountability for hate speech online.
If you're on a platform that hascomments on it, make sure to
leave a comment about what you think about this.
Are the peeding on X's free speech rights?

(05:24):
Is this a First Amendment thing?Or is this Elon Musk trying to
keep control over X and trying to keep control over the
discussions on X? Let me know in the comments on
your platform. Hey, thank you so much for
listening today. I really do appreciate your
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(05:47):
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