Press Releases
06/26/2024
Attorney General Tong Statement on U.S. Supreme Court Decision Preserving the Government's Ability to Address Spread of Dangerous Content, Disinformation on Social Media Platforms
(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong released the following statement regarding the U.S. Supreme Court decision today in Murthy v. Missouri preserving the government’s ability to collaborate with social media companies to address the spread of disinformation and dangerous content on their platforms.“This decision rightly preserves the government’s ability to work with social media companies to address the spread of disinformation and dangerous content online. This is all-hands-on-deck kind of work. We need governments and platforms working closely together to root out violent content, cyberbullying, child predators, and deeply damaging disinformation regarding public health, our democracy, and more,” said Attorney General Tong.
Missouri, Louisiana, and several individuals had claimed federal officials jawboned social media companies into moderating disinformation about COVID-19 and other topics of vital public health and civic interest. The plaintiffs said that this communication crossed the line into coercion, violating their First Amendment rights. Last summer, a federal district court agreed with the plaintiffs, and issued a preliminary injunction effectively barring any communications between many federal government officials and social media companies about the platforms’ content-moderation decisions. The Fifth Circuit largely affirmed. The U.S. Supreme Court disagreed, ruling that the plaintiffs had not themselves been harmed and lacked standing to sue.
Connecticut had joined other states in an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to allow the exchange of information between the government and social media companies -- including communication to protect children from online predators and cyberbullying, and communication aimed at flagging scams, violent images, and public health disinformation.
Link to Attorney General Tong amicus brief.
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