Federal judge blocks social media law
Published: June 30, 2021 9:56 PM EDT
Updated: June 30, 2021 9:59 PM EDT
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Calling it “riddled with imprecision and ambiguity,” a federal judge Wednesday blocked a new state law targeting social-media behemoths such as Facebook and Twitter that can strip politicians and other users from their platforms.
U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle issued a preliminary injunction as he sided with online-industry groups NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association, which filed the lawsuit challenging the measure pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and approved by Republican lawmakers this spring.
“The legislation now at issue was an effort to rein in social-media providers deemed too large and too liberal. Balancing the exchange of ideas among private speakers is not a legitimate government interest,” Hinkle wrote in Wednesday’s 31-page order.