When the US Supreme Court considers on Friday whether to take up two cases of central importance to the social media world, it will cement its new role as a key arbiter over the future of online communications.
The cases concern controversial 2021 laws in Florida and Texas that were designed to limit internet companies’ ability to block content or users on their networks — something the states claim would prevent them “censoring” conservatives.
The justices are widely expected to take up the cases, though it is unclear if they will have time to hear them in the current term that ends this summer. That would add a second front in what has already become a historic move by the Supreme Court to weigh in on internet freedoms.