The 'future of speech' court case, safety startups get $$$ and Shelby on teaching T&S
Hello and welcome to Everything in Moderation, your guide to the policies, products, platforms and people shaping the future of online speech and the internet. It's written by me, Ben Whitelaw and supported by members like you.
This week's big news, ironically, happened last Friday. I found about the Supreme Court's announcement after multiple EiM subscribers emailed me, which goes to show just how big a story it is. It's covered in today's edition along with a dozen or so other must-read stories.
A warm welcome to 40+ new subscribers, including folks from IQPC, TaskUs, Unitary and others. Tell me what you think by hitting reply or the thumbs at the end of today's edition.
Here's everything in moderation from the last seven days — BW
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Policies
New and emerging internet policy and online speech regulation
The Supreme Court is expected to make a decision next year on the Florida (EiM #119) and Texas (EiM #139 and others) laws that seek to control how large social media companies moderate content. The US's highest court made the announcement last Friday — right after I hit publish on EiM — and a matter of months after the Biden administration has recommended that the Court clarify whether the laws violate the platforms' First Amendment rights (here's a helpful guide for non US readers).
According to The Washington Post, the review will be "the highest-profile examination to date of allegations that Silicon Valley companies are illegally censoring conservative viewpoints". And experts have variously described it as "without exaggeration — the most important Supreme Court case ever when it comes to the internet" and a case that will "shape the future of speech on the internet". The fact that it's coming in an election year is, frankly, wild. Buckle up everyone.