United States
Moody v. NetChoice
Decision Date: July 1, 2024
The U.S. Supreme Court held that the Fifth and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals failed to adequately analyze the facial First Amendment challenges to the constitutionality of laws enacted by Florida and Texas regulating content moderation on social media platforms. The states of Florida and Texas enacted two laws limiting content moderation on digital platforms and social networks, prohibiting “censorship” based on users’ views, and requiring companies to provide detailed explanations to users about content moderation decisions. Petitioner NetChoice—a coalition of companies that own digital platforms and social networks—filed a facial challenge to these laws, arguing that they violated the First Amendment. The states of Florida and Texas argued that the rules were designed to balance the marketplace of ideas on social networks. Two separate district courts granted preliminary injunctions halting the enforcement of both laws. The Eleventh Circuit Court affirmed the injunction against the law in Florida, holding that it likely violated the First Amendment. At the same time, the Fifth Circuit Court vacated the injunction against the law in Texas, arguing that content moderation is a form of censorship, not a form of speech protected by the First Amendment.
 
The U.S. Supreme Court reversed both circuit courts’ decisions and remanded the cases for further proceedings, emphasizing that the First Amendment protects the editorial discretion of social media platforms. The Court considered that a facial First Amendment challenge to a statute requires the petitioner to demonstrate that a substantial portion of the statute’s applications is unconstitutional. In this regard, the Court held that the broad scope of the contested laws, which deal with various activities beyond content moderation, required a more precise analysis to determine their constitutionality. In addition, the Court held that altering the private editorial decisions of social media platforms violated the First Amendment, which prohibits the government from imposing its own prerogatives regarding the proper balance of ideas on the private sector.

Brazil
Vera Magalhães v. Douglas Garcia Bispo dos Santos
Decision Date: October 6, 2022
A Brazilian court made a preliminary order for the removal of false social media content and prohibited the future publication of similar posts about a journalist. After a televised electoral debate, a state representative falsely accused the journalist of receiving money to criticize a presidential candidate, with the aim of discrediting her journalism and also made similar allegations on Twitter. The Court emphasized that while free speech is a fundamental right, it must be balanced with the protection of honor and a free press. Given the harmful and untrue nature of the posts the Court ruled that they should be removed and future posts prohibited.
 
The Case of Disinformation Demonetization on Brazilian Social Media
Decision Date: August 16, 2021
The Superior Electoral Court of Brazil, in an administrative inquiry, ordered the suspension of payments from social media platforms to specific individuals and pages disseminating disinformation during the Brazilian elections of 2022. The Court found that this measure does not violate the freedom of expression and the press as it addresses profit incentives rather than content. It also prohibited platforms from suggesting political content through algorithms and compelled platforms to promote reverse tracking of posts to identify the origin of publications. This ruling remained effective throughout the elections and was revoked in March 2023, with no impact on criminal investigations in progress at the Supreme Federal Court and potential new orders to suspend monetization in response to new unlawful events.

● Updated Course from CDT and CTCL – Combating Election Misinformation in 2024. The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) and the Center for Technology and Civic Life (CTCL) just relaunched “Combatting Election Misinformation,” an online course that aims to equip election officials with knowledge about election misinformation. Initially designed ahead of the 2020 US election, the course now reflects the four years of significant changes in the information environment, such as the role of generative AI and the ubiquity of deepfakes. This self-paced course will help election officials navigate the relevant terms and concepts, spot misinformation, malinformation, and disinformation, respond effectively, and “develop resilience with a defensive communications strategy.” CDT and CTCL will award certificates upon completion of the course. 

United Nations Global Principles for Information Integrity: Recommendations for Multi-stakeholder Action. This summer, the UN launched Global Principles for Information Integrity, which tackle the main information challenges of our technological era – misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech. Grounded in international law and consultations with Member States, scholars, media, civil society, and private sector representatives, the principles serve as a framework that invites “multi-stakeholder action for a healthier information ecosystem.” There are five principles: 1) Societal Trust and Resilience, 2) Healthy Incentives, 3) Public Empowerment, 4) Independent, Free, and Pluralistic Media, and 5) Transparency and Research. The recommendations follow the principles’ descriptions and address technology companies, AI actors, advertisers and other private sector actors, news media, researchers, civil society, states and other political actors, and the UN.  

● Montenegro: New Report on How Authoritarians Test-Drive Tactics of Oppression and Ways Democratic Institutions Can Respond, by Vanja Ćalović Marković. The National Endowment for Democracy published a new study titled “The Struggle Against Authoritarian Influence in the Western Balkans: Montenegro as a Test Case.” Marković, an anti-corruption expert, argues that Montenegro is “an ideal testing ground for authoritarian influence.” Illiberal powers like Russia and China impose their disproportionate influence – exploiting political divisions, spreading propaganda, and manipulating information in Montenegro – through modest investments yet aiming to impact the entire region. One of the strategies Marković forwards in combating the malign influence is for civil society to build collaborations with investigative journalists. Read more here.

● Call for Abstracts: Artificial Intelligence and Democratic Freedoms. Knight First Amendment Institute will host a two-part symposium at Columbia University in November 2024 and April 2025 and invites submissions on topics at the intersection of AI and democratic freedoms. Under the thematic umbrella of “sociotechnical AI safety,” the Institute welcomes abstracts between 500 and 1,000 words to research@knightcolumbia.org by September 20, 2024. Learn more here.