New York tries to ban 'hateful' speech online

BASEDPolitics’ Brad Polumbo writes, “A new law takes effect on Saturday in New York that supposedly targets hateful speech online. But it may not last long, because the state just got hit with a First Amendment lawsuit that could bring about the demise of its new regulation.

The law in question is called ‘Social media networks; hateful conduct prohibited.’ It targets internet platforms and mandates that they publish a policy outlining how they handle ‘hateful’ content. It defines ‘hateful conduct’ as online speech that serves to ‘vilify, humiliate, or incite violence against a group or a class of persons’ on the basis of protected characteristics.

The law mandates that internet platforms address reports of such content. Companies that fail to do so face fines of up to $1,000 per day.

But what about companies that don’t want to play speech-police on their platforms?

‘Hate speech’ is protected by the Constitution. This is a violation of the First Amendment. “The law mandates that internet platforms address reports of such content. Companies that fail to do so face fines of up to $1,000 per day.” ⁦@brad_polumbo⁩ https://t.co/zTofwAUgGN

— Jack Hunter (@jackhunter74) December 1, 2022

Well, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) is suing New York on behalf of independent content platforms Rumble and Locals as well as legal blogger Eugene Volokh.

‘New York politicians are slapping a speech-police badge on my chest because I run a blog,’ plaintiff Eugene Volokh, co-founder of the Volokh Conspiracy blog, said. ‘I started the blog to share interesting and important legal stories, not to police readers’ speech at the government’s behest.’

The law’s text says it shouldn’t be construed to infringe on anyone’s free speech rights, but FIRE says its policy mandates are themselves a violation of the First Amendment."

Read the entire column.