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We the People

Can Texas and Florida Ban Viewpoint Discrimination on Social Media Platforms?

We the People

National Constitution Center

History, News Commentary, News

4.61K Ratings

🗓️ 1 March 2024

⏱️ 60 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in NetChoice v. Paxton and Moody v. NetChoice, which involved challenges to attempts by Texas and Florida to prevent social media sites from banning viewpoint discrimination. The challenges were brought by NetChoice, which argues that the laws’ content-moderation restrictions and must-carry provisions violate the First Amendment. The case could determine the future of our most important platforms, from Facebook to X to YouTube. Alex Abdo of the Knight First Amendment Institute and Larry Lessig of Harvard Law School recap the key issues in both cases; discuss the ideas raised in oral arguments; and preview the wide-ranging impacts these cases may bring. Resources: Moody v. NetChoice (oral argument via C-SPAN; transcript) NetChoice v. Paxton (oral argument via C-SPAN; transcript) Larry Lessig, Amicus Brief in Support of Respondents Alex Abdo, Amicus Brief in Support of Neither Party Lochner v. New York (1905) PruneYard Shopping Center v. Robins (1980) Zauderer v. Office of Disc. Counsel (1985) Rumsfeld v. FAIR (2006) Questions or comments about the show? Email us at [email protected]. Continue today's conversation on social media @ConstitutionCtr and #WeThePeoplePodcast. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly.  You can find transcripts for each episode on the podcast pages in our Media Library.

Transcript

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0:00.0

This week the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Net Choice versus Paxton and Moody versus Net Choice.

0:06.0

These cases involve challenges to state laws in Texas and Florida that seek to prevent social media sites from removing controversial posts.

0:15.0

Net Choice argues the laws violate the First Amendment.

0:18.0

Hello friends, I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, and welcome

0:26.4

to We The People, a weekly show of constitutional debate.

0:29.8

The National Constitution

0:37.0

among the American people.

0:39.0

It is an honor to convene two leading experts on intellectual property, free speech, and the future of the internet

0:46.1

to discuss these important cases.

0:48.8

Larry Lessig is Royel Furman professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School.

0:53.6

He's the founder of Equal Citizens and Creative Commons and is the author of many books including

0:59.0

How to Steal a Presidential Election, which was released this month,

1:02.8

and which we will discuss on our upcoming town hall

1:05.9

on March 21st.

1:07.6

In the Net Choice cases, Larry,

1:09.0

joined a brief in support of Florida and Texas.

1:12.0

Larry, it is wonderful to welcome you to We the People.

1:15.0

Thanks so much for having me, Jeff.

1:17.0

And Alex Abdo is the inaugural litigation director of the Knight First Amendment Institute

1:22.0

at Columbia University, where he's been

1:23.8

involved in important First Amendment litigation.

1:26.7

Previously, he worked at the ACLU, where he was at the forefront of litigation relating

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