A federal judge in Manhattan has thrown out Elon Musk’s X’s bid to strike down a New York law that forces big social media companies to explain how they police harmful content — including hate speech, extremism, harassment, foreign political interference and disinformation.
US District Judge John Cronan rejected X’s claim that the Stop Hiding Hate Act violates the First Amendment by effectively pressuring the platform — through the threat of lawsuits and steep penalties — to disclose “highly sensitive and controversial speech” the state deems objectionable.
Instead, Cronan said the statute compels platforms to provide “purely factual and uncontroversial information” about their content moderation policies, a requirement he found reasonably tied to New York’s interest in helping the public make informed decisions about whether and how to use social media.
“Businesses always exercise their discretion, judgment, and opinions when deciding what goods or services to offer,” Judge Cronan wrote.
“Burger King chooses to generally offer higher-calorie items than, say, Sweetgreen, but the disclosure of calorie information remains purely factual. So too here.”
The judge dismissed the case with prejudice, barring X from revising and refiling its complaint.
X, formerly Twitter, is part of Mr Musk’s rocket and satellite company SpaceX.
The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James defended the law. It did not immediately respond to similar requests for comment.
Governor Kathy Hochul signed the measure in December 2024. It applies to social media companies that generate at least $100 million in annual revenue and requires them to disclose how they remove hate from their platforms and to report on their progress.
Elon Musk completed a $44 billion acquisition of social media platform Twitter in 2022
Violations can trigger civil penalties of up to $15,000 per violation per day.
The Anti-Defamation League helped draft the law.
In asking the court to dismiss X’s lawsuit, Ms James argued the measure is designed to give consumers a clearer picture of what to expect from social media services, while leaving platforms free to speak and to use their own judgement in moderating content.
Mr Musk scrapped Twitter’s content moderation policy after he bought that company in 2022.
The world’s richest person has described himself as a free speech absolutist.
