Dec 28 (Reuters) – Elon Musk’s X on Thursday failed to block a California state law that requires social media companies to publicly disclose how they moderate certain content on their platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
X, formerly known as Twitter, in September sued California<\/u><\/a> to undo the content moderation law, saying the law violated its free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment and California’s state constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The law<\/u><\/a> requires social media companies with a sizable gross annual revenue to issue semiannual reports that describe their content moderation practices, and provide data on the number of objectionable posts and how they were addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n U.S. District Judge William Shubb in an eight-page decision dismissed the social media company’s request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “While the reporting requirement does appear to place a substantial compliance burden on social medial companies, it does not appear that the requirement is unjustified or unduly burdensome within the context of First Amendment law,” Shubb wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shubb will meet with the lawyers in the case on Feb. 26 for a scheduling conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shubb held “terms of service” requirements of the law to be integral and said their presence could be a major deciding factor for users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n X has been under fire regarding its content moderation rules, with many companies pausing advertising<\/u><\/a> on the platform. Since Musk took over X in October 2022, its monthly U.S. ad revenue declined<\/u><\/a> at least 55% year-over-year each month, according to third-party data provided to Reuters in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The social media platform also faces scrutiny in Europe. The European Union earlier this month said it was investigating X<\/u><\/a> over suspected breaches of obligations, partly relating to posts following Hamas’ attacks on Israel, its first probe under the Digital Services Act (DSA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, X and other social media companies were flooded with fake images and misleading information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n X said it remains committed to complying with the DSA and is cooperating with the regulatory process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The case is X Corp v Bonta, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California, No. 2:23-cv–01939.<\/p>\n\n\n\n