- Term
- 2023-2024
Murthy v. Missouri
The federal government often asks social media companies to remove or demote user content that poses a danger to U.S. health and safety — such as content that aims to recruit people to engage in terroristic violence, harms public health through disinformation, or is produced by foreign adversaries. Social media companies are not forced to comply with these requests for voluntary removal of such content. Missouri and Louisiana sued over this practice, saying that the federal government requesting that social media companies remove COVID-19 and election disinformation from their platforms amounts to a violation of the First Amendment. The Supreme Court considered whether to shut down crucial communications between social media companies and federal officials — something that could have huge consequences for democracy as well as public health and national security.
On June 26, 2024, in a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the lawsuit. Justice Alito’s dissenting opinion — joined by Justices Thomas and Gorsuch — argued that the White House violated the First Amendment.
