Supreme Court Decision Could Change the Nation – Every Single American Will Be Affected
By Mick Farthing|October 6, 2023
What’s Happening:
The Supreme Court has been critical in deciding many issues facing the United States. Recently, it ruled against states that passed restrictive gun control laws. The court also ended Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, calling it unconstitutional.
Because of former President Donald Trump, the court enjoys a strong conservative majority. Democrats have called for expanding the court, to add more liberal justices. It appears liberals fear decisions future decisions that could undermine their agenda.
Just last week, the court decided to take up a case coming out of Texas and Florida. The conservative legislatures in both states passed laws that strike at a major issue affecting all Americans. And, if Justice Thomas has his way, this case could change social media forever.
From Fox News:
On Sept. 29, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it will rule on state laws enacted by Florida and Texas that prohibit tech giants from canceling users based on their political views. Expect Thomas to lead a majority of the justices to conclude that internet censorship is inconsistent with democracy and must be stopped…The court will decide who is protected by the First Amendment — the tech companies that claim they’re like newspapers, or the millions of social media users. The smart money is on Thomas persuading a majority of the justices that democracy requires an uncensored internet.
The Supreme Court agreed to rule on laws from Texas and Florida that address social media censorship. The issue was taken to the highest court after lower courts issued conflicting decisions on these laws.
Both states banned social networks from censoring content of users. State lawmakers claimed social networks are violating the First Amendment rights of users, when they take down content the companies appear to disagree with.
In recent years, conservatives have accused social networks, as well as search engines like Google, of blocking content that conflicts with leftist political views. Social networks have even banned users, including former President Donald Trump. Meanwhile, Google has been accused of “burying” search results to hide information from users.
Social media companies have reason to be worried. In 2021, Justice Clarence Thomas compared online companies to phone companies, utilities, and public accommodations. These companies are not allowed to deny service to someone, based on their speech.
A cellphone service cannot deny you access, because of your political views. Nor can an airplane deny you a plane ticket, because of whom you vote for. Thomas appears to believe the same standard should be applied to social networks, which are used by billions of people around the world.
How the court rules could shake up social media forever. If it rules to ban censorship by social networks, Americans will be free to express their views without fear of being banned. Liberal-run companies will no longer be able to suppress pro-conservative views.
It could change online news as well as the fate of many elections.
Key Takeaways:
- The Supreme Court will soon rule on social media censorship.
- The court agreed to take up lawsuits over laws from Texas and Florida.
- This case could mean the end of social media censorship for good.
