Elon Musk’s social media platform, X (formerly Twitter), has filed a lawsuit against the state of New York, seeking to block the implementation of a new law that requires tech platforms to regularly disclose their handling of harmful or problematic content.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in a Manhattan federal court, argues that the law infringes on free speech rights and conflicts with federal regulations. The legislation, signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul in 2023, is set to take effect in the coming months. It mandates that social media companies submit biannual reports detailing how they define and moderate categories such as hate speech, disinformation, and extremist content, including data on flagged posts and actions taken.
X contends that the law compels companies to make “politically charged disclosures,” effectively pressuring them to censor content that is constitutionally protected but disfavored by the state. “The state is impermissibly trying to generate public controversy about content moderation in a way that will pressure social media companies, such as X Corp., to restrict, limit, disfavor or censor certain constitutionally protected content on X that the state dislikes,” the company stated in court documents.
The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James responded Wednesday, stating it is reviewing the case and is prepared to defend the law’s constitutionality.
The legislation’s sponsors, State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assembly Member Grace Lee, both Democrats, maintain that the law aims to increase transparency and hold platforms accountable. They have previously criticised X’s content policies under Musk’s leadership, describing the platform’s record as “disturbing” and damaging to democratic discourse.
Since acquiring Twitter in 2022 and rebranding it as X, Musk has significantly rolled back the platform’s moderation policies, dissolving advisory bodies and restoring banned accounts. Critics argue these changes have led to a rise in hate speech and online harassment.
This isn’t the first time X has pushed back against state regulations. The company successfully challenged a similar law in California last year, with a federal appeals court temporarily blocking key provisions on First Amendment grounds. The case was later settled, and California agreed not to enforce the contested reporting rules.
The New York lawsuit marks the latest in a broader campaign by Musk’s X to resist state-level oversight of how social media platforms handle user-generated content.
