Elon Musk’s X filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday aiming to block a New York law that would require social media companies to report how they manage harmful or objectionable content — a regulatory move the company argues violates free speech rights and federal protections.
The law, signed by Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul late last year and set to take effect later in 2025, mandates transparency in content moderation practices. X contends it infringes on the company’s editorial discretion and Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which grants platforms broad leeway in moderating content.
In the lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court, X argues that New York is overstepping by demanding “politically charged disclosures” that would pressure platforms to censor constitutionally protected speech. The company claims the state is improperly inserting itself into the content moderation process to influence what appears on platforms like X.
