Did Supreme Court ruling come too late to reverse ‘chilling effect’ on 2024 disinformation?

Westend61/Getty Images

 

Connecting state and local government leaders

While the justices found in Murthy v. Missouri that two states lacked standing to sue over alleged government censorship, observers warned that the case may have already damaged efforts to crack down ahead of November.

The Supreme Court’s recent ruling that governments can ask social media platforms to remove misinformation may give state and local officials heart ahead of November’s elections. But some observers say it might be too late.

Justices ruled 6-3 last week in Murthy v. Missouri that the states of Louisiana and Missouri and the five individual social media users named in the case did not have the standing to sue. The plaintiffs alleged that the Biden administration pressured Facebook to censor their speech by deleting posts complaining about mask and vaccine requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Experts warned after the decision, though, that the case’s existence created a “chilling effect” on collaboration between governments and social media companies from the get-go. Some inflammatory hearings in a House subcommittee have further discouraged any teamwork. The effect could be difficult to overcome ahead of an election season already dominated by worries about misinformation, artificial intelligence and overwhelmed election workers faced with increased physical and cyber threats.

“A combination of this case and the full attention that has been brought to bear by the House weaponization committee hearings on this topic has really deterred both social media platforms and governmental officials from wanting to further engage in those collaborations,” said Matt Seligman, a fellow at the Stanford Constitutional Law Center, during a Tech Justice Law Project briefing after the decision.

A major source of collaboration on removing election mis- and disinformation has traditionally been between social media companies and two federal agencies—the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation—which flag content to the platforms that they believe should be taken down.

Those efforts also include free resources and advice for state and local election officials on the best ways to dispel common disinformation narratives and how to communicate effectively with their residents in the face of efforts to undermine them.

But experts said that relationship has cooled in recent years, amid accusations of bias and censorship by the government. That allegation was central in this case. Writing for the minority opinion, Justice Samuel Alito accused government officials of “coercive” censorship that was “blatantly unconstitutional.”

Those who helped bring the case maintained that government agencies working with social media platforms to remove dis- and misinformation is censorship. In a post to X, formerly Twitter, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said the 6-3 majority “waves off the worst government coercion scheme in history.” 

Seligman said that kind of rhetoric may have convinced platforms to back off.

“I think the big open question going forward as we head into the very heat of the 2024 election cycle is to what extent governmental officials at the federal, local and state levels, and the social media platforms are willing and able to restore and restart those collaborative efforts,” he said. “Even if the governmental officials feel like, ‘OK, we're in the clear now,’ the social media platforms have been deterred from reaching out to governmental officials for help they really could use.”

Social media companies and CISA, meanwhile, expressed optimism. Jen Easterly, director of CISA, said in an emailed statement she was “pleased” with the Supreme Court’s decision. 

“As we have made clear from the beginning, CISA does not and has never censored speech,” Easterly said. “Every day, the men and women of CISA execute the agency’s mission of reducing risk to U.S. critical infrastructure in a way that protects Americans’ freedom of speech, civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy.”

Social media companies say they are getting tooled up. Facebook parent Meta said it has invested millions of dollars in “teams and technology” to protect election integrity and has around 40,000 people working on “safety and security,” although some remain skeptical they will be able to deal with the expected flood of disinformation and foreign influence operations.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s ownership of X has others worried about its potential impact on November’s vote, especially as a recent survey from the Pew Research Center found that 59% of its U.S. users say a reason they use it is to keep up with politics or political issues. 

"The risk that government officials will improperly pressure platforms to censor speech is real,” Samir Jain, vice president at the Center for Democracy and Technology, said in a statement. “At the same time, government communications can provide useful information that lets platforms make more informed moderation decisions.”

While the case had generated a lot of heat and noise, especially after District Judge Terry Doughty ruled last July that the federal government had “apparently engaged in a massive effort to suppress disfavored conservative speech,” observers said the Supreme Court’s decision showed there is still plenty of scope for platforms to work with governments and the research community to root out dis- and misinformation.

“[This] ruling hopefully serves as a deterrent for future cases that are weak on facts and heavy on conjecture that are intended to silence rigorous study of how misinformation and disinformation moves across the internet,” Brandi Geurkink, executive director at the nonprofit Coalition for Independent Technology Research, which works to maintain the right to study the impact of tech on society, said during the Tech Justice Law Project briefing. “Today's decision, in my view, sends this really clear message that the justice system in America requires proof and not just political posturing.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.