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Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios
The Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with the Biden administration in a case centered on how government officials can talk to social media companies about content moderation.
Why it matters: The Supreme Court's decision punts the issue of tech platforms' legal liability and any limits on content moderation back to Congress, where lawmakers are deeply divided and unlikely to pass any new laws in the near future.
Driving the news: By a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court upheld the government's ability to talk to platforms about taking content down, saying plaintiffs lacked standing to sue.
What they're saying: Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote that the Fifth Circuit was wrong in a preceding decision to find the government at fault and plaintiffs did not prove any substantial risk of an jury from a government defendant.
Catch up quick: The Murthy v. Missouri case emerged after Biden officials called on tech platforms to take down disinformation related to Covid-19 vaccines.
- It went to SCOTUS after the Fifth Circuit held communications by government officials with social media platforms were an inappropriate use of government speech, and that officials communications' made them responsible for how companies decided to moderate.
Our thought bubble: The 6-3 win is not just a victory for government officials now, but in the future.
- A loss could have meant the government being limited in talking to social media companies about anything from cybersecurity to natural disasters to foreign threats.
