| A pair of industry groups is suing to stop a Florida law that would open social media companies up to fines and lawsuits over their content moderation decisions. Netchoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association, which represent companies including Facebook, Google and Amazon, yesterday filed a lawsuit that calls the new state law "so rife with fundamental infirmities that it appears to have been enacted without any regard for the Constitution." The law is scheduled to take effect on July 1, and the groups are planning to also soon file an injunction to ensure that it can't be enforced.  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, center, gives his opening remarks prior to signing legislation that seeks to punish social media platforms. (Carl Juste/Miami Herald via AP) | The suit officially kicks off a legal battle that has been widely anticipated since Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed the social media bill into law earlier this week. DeSantis, a potential 2024 Republican presidential contender, painted it as a stand against alleged censorship of conservative voices on social media. Tech companies have broadly denied such accusations, and legal experts have argued the measure runs afoul of the Constitution and other federal Internet law. The Florida law would impose fines on companies for deplatforming political candidates, and it would make it easier for both the state attorney general and individuals to bring lawsuits if they felt the companies were unfairly applying their content moderation policies. "U.S. free speech principles protect the public from government penalties for speech; they do not protect elected officials from the speech choices of the public," said CIA President Matt Schruers in a statement. "Forcing a company to publish government officials' speech is more characteristic of last-century dictatorships than 21st-century democracies." The stakes go beyond Florida. The tech industry groups are trying to squash the Florida law as Republicans push similar measures in other state legislatures across the country. A legal victory in the Sunshine State could send a warning to other states that such efforts are unconstitutional. The industry groups are also making the case that the Florida law could make it harder for tech companies to crackdown on harmful content. Tech companies have taken greater action against a wide range of potentially harmful -- yet legal -- forms of speech, ranging from pornography to hateful missives. The industry groups are arguing that the Florida bills and others like it could make it harder for them to do that in the future. "By constraining digital services' ability to fight bad actors online, this law threatens to make the Internet a safe space for criminals, miscreants, and foreign agents, putting Floridians at risk," Schruers said. Even if the companies are successful, the fact the bill was passed and signed signals conservatives' attacks are escalating. The tech industry is at the center of Republicans' political attacks on "cancel culture," and the bill is widely seen as a response to the companies' controversial decisions to suspend then President Donald Trump from their services in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol attacks. However, even if the law was in effect then, the fines on the companies wouldn't have applied because they only apply to political candidates actively running for office, which Trump was not doing at the time of the attack. Republicans have continued to accuse the companies of "censorship," especially after the Facebook Oversight Board recently ruled to uphold Trump's suspension from that platform. The company is expected to soon respond to the board's decision, which called on it to clarify whether the suspension would be temporary or permanent. The legal battle comes as the U.S. Congress is debating the future of social media regulation. Both Democrats and Republicans have proposed legislation that would force tech companies to take greater responsibility for the content on their services and their content moderation decisions. However, it's highly unlikely that any legislation similar to the Florida law would progress at the federal level, at least while the Democrats are in charge. President Biden recently rescinded a Trump era executive order that directed the Federal Communications Commission to review the scope of Section 230, a key Internet legal shield. | 
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