X Corp Sues New York Over Content Moderation Law, Citing Free Speech Violations

Elon Musk’s X Corp challenges New York’s Stop Hiding Hate Act, calling it unconstitutional and a threat to First Amendment rights.

NEW YORK, June 18 (Reuters) – Elon Musk’s X Corp has filed a lawsuit against New York state, claiming that a newly enacted law compelling social media platforms to disclose their content moderation policies violates the First Amendment and the state constitution.

Filed in Manhattan federal court, the lawsuit directly challenges the Stop Hiding Hate Act, which requires platforms like X to outline how they manage and report hate speech, extremism, misinformation, harassment, and foreign political interference. According to X, the law forces companies to publicize decisions about “highly sensitive and controversial speech,” which the state may disapprove of, subjecting them to fines of up to $15,000 per violation per day.

“This law attempts to impose governmental control over how platforms define, monitor, and disclose objectionable content,” X argued in its filing. “This is not a role that the government may play. Decisions about content moderation engender considerable debate among reasonable people about where to draw the correct proverbial line.”

The lawsuit also highlights a letter from the law’s co-authors, State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assemblymember Grace Lee, which criticizes Musk and X for a “disturbing record” on content moderation, suggesting it “threatens the foundations of our democracy.”

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is named as the defendant and tasked with enforcing the law, has not yet responded to the lawsuit.

Musk, who has positioned himself as a free speech absolutist, dismantled much of Twitter’s former moderation framework after acquiring the platform (then known as Twitter) for $44 billion in October 2022. Under his leadership, the platform was rebranded as X and its moderation policies significantly rolled back.

The Stop Hiding Hate Act, signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul in December, mandates companies to publicly disclose the procedures they use to address hate and report on their enforcement efforts. The legislation was developed in coordination with the Anti-Defamation League and mirrors a similar law passed in California in 2023, which was partially blocked by a federal appeals court on constitutional grounds. California later agreed in February 2024 not to enforce the law’s disclosure mandates after a settlement with X.

Hoylman-Sigal and Lee, however, remain confident. In a joint statement, they said: “The fact that Elon Musk would go to these lengths to avoid disclosing straightforward information to New Yorkers proves just how essential this law is.”

The case is X Corp v. James, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 25-05068.