Elon Musk's X Loses Bid to Change California Law

Elon Musk‘s X on Thursday has lost its bid to change a California law on content moderation disclosure by social media companies. X sued California in September to undo the state’s content moderation law, saying it violated free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment and California’s state constitution. Today, U.S. District Judge William Shubb dismissed the social media company’s request in an eight-page decision. The law requires large social media companies to issue semiannual reports that describe their content moderation practices. They must also provide data on the number of objectionable posts and how they were addressed.

“While the reporting requirement does appear to place a substantial compliance burden on social medial companies, it does not appear that the requirement is unjustified or unduly burdensome within the context of First Amendment law,” Shubb wrote.

X did not immediately respond. The company’s content moderation policies have long been contentious, dating to before Musk bought the company. The case is X Corp v Bonta, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California, No. 2:23-cv–01939.