3) Republican Complaints of Social Media Censorship

Republican accusations of anti-conservative censorship that accelerated in 2020 heated up further in 2021. The issue unites nearly all Republicans, with Pew finding that 90% suspect ideology behind social media content moderation decisions (and so do 60% of Democrats). In Congress, Republicans and Democrats cancel each other out with Democrats wanting platforms to better control “misinformation” (for example, on vaccines and climate) and hate speech, while Republicans see ideological bias and want less content moderation. But states controlled by Republicans are another matter. Florida, led by Gov. DeSantis, and Texas, led by Gov. Abbott, waved off constitutional concerns and enacted major social media legislation. Without much surprise, both bills were blocked by federal judges, largely on First Amendment grounds, ruling that the US Constitution does not prohibit the companies from regulating speech on their services, but is clear on prohibiting the government from regulating how a media platform moderates speech. Finally, former President Trump filed federal lawsuits against social media platforms for violating his First Amendment rights by banning him, but he looks destined to lose based on the same First Amendment interpretations impacting the GOP state laws.