Elon Musk 's X account is seen in this illustration taken, July 24, 2023. (REUTERS File Photo)
Elon Musk's social media platform X, formerly Twitter, has lost a legal challenge to block a California law that requires content moderation disclosures.
A U.S. judge on Thursday denied a motion by X asking for a temporary suspension of a new California law requiring social media companies to issue semi-annual reports detailing their content moderation practices and their enforcement, along with data about objectionable posts.
The law, signed in 2022 by California Governor Gavin Newsom, aims to address issues like hate speech, disinformation, harassment and extremism on social media sites.
X had sued the state to block the law stating that it violated its free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment and California's state constitution.
The legal challenge was dismissed by U.S. District Judge William Shubb.
In an eight-page ruling, the Shubb stated: "While the reporting requirement does appear to place a substantial compliance burden on social media companies, it does not appear that the requirement is unjustified or unduly burdensome within the context of First Amendment law."
Shubb planned a meeting with lawyers on February 26, 2024, for a scheduling conference.
X has been facing many challenges regarding content moderation. Recently, many prominent companies have pulled their advertisements from the site citing content moderation issues.
Earlier this month, the European Commission announced legal steps against X over the spread of disinformation and transparency breaches under a recent EU law - called the Digital Services Act (DSA).
