Wed Jun 25 04:10:00 UTC 2025: **X Corp. Sues New York Over Social Media Content Moderation Law**
New York, NY – X Corp., the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has filed a lawsuit against New York state, challenging a law requiring social media companies to disclose their policies for moderating hate speech, extremism, and other controversial content. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, names New York Attorney General Letitia James as the defendant.
X argues that the “Stop Hiding Hate Act” violates the First Amendment by forcing the platform to reveal sensitive information about its content moderation practices and potentially chilling constitutionally protected speech. The law, passed in December, mandates that social media companies report on their efforts to combat hate speech on their platforms.
“Deciding what content is acceptable on social media platforms engenders considerable debate among reasonable people about where to draw the correct proverbial line,” X stated in the lawsuit. “This is not a role that the government may play.”
New York State lawmakers who sponsored the law, Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assemblymember Grace Lee, have condemned social media companies like X as “cesspools of hate speech” and maintain that the law does not infringe on First Amendment rights. They argue that platforms have consistently failed to be transparent about their policies regarding hate speech and misinformation.
This lawsuit comes nine months after X successfully blocked a similar law in California. The company cited that victory in its current lawsuit, criticizing New York lawmakers for not addressing the legislation’s flaws after the California law was largely struck down.
Since Elon Musk’s acquisition of the platform in 2022, experts have noted a significant decrease in content moderation, even of spam. Musk’s approach to content moderation has been a point of contention, with some arguing that it promotes free speech while others contend it has led to an increase in hate speech and misinformation on the platform.
Neither Attorney General James nor X responded to requests for comment on Tuesday.
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