NEW YORK—NetChoice sued New York today to stop the state from forcing services to act as its mouthpieces. SB S4505 will force websites to put up state-scripted “warning” messages discouraging New Yorkers from using online services and promoting the government’s controversial views on social media.
“The First Amendment forbids New York from forcing private speakers to serve as government mouthpieces, and that includes compelled state-scripted warnings on speech,” said Paul Taske, Director of the NetChoice Litigation Center.
“New York has every right to share its views on social media, but it has no right to make private websites say it for them. As we told California last month, the First Amendment is not a suggestion. A federal court has already struck down Colorado’s nearly identical law, and New York’s unconstitutional mandate should meet the same fate.”
WHY NEW YORKERS SHOULD CARE:
- Users will have to sit through state-mandated warnings every time they access social media. After the first warning upon initial access, they will have to sit through labels shown for up to 30 seconds, covering 75% of the screen that they cannot skip, every hour after three hours online, no matter how many times they’ve seen them.
- An unconstitutional law protects no one, and in this case, it actively undermines the public’s access to diverse perspectives and information.
- New York is exploiting legitimate concerns about mental health to justify its attacks on speech services.
- States cannot do by “warning label” what they are unable to do by outright ban. A federal court already blocked Colorado’s nearly identical law on First Amendment grounds, and New York’s should fall too.
- California doesn’t trust adults to make their own choices, or parents to make decisions for their own families. Unless a site has verified a user is over 17, everyone gets the warning.
Read the full complaint here.
Find case resources for NetChoice v. James here.
Please contact press@netchoice.org with inquiries.