An excellent arti9cle by Alexandra Snyder, Chief Executive Officer at Life Legal Defense Foundation - please see www.lifelegaldefensefoundation.org.

Conversation starred. Conversation opened. 1 unread message. Skip to content Using Gmail with screen readers 38 of 352 Fighting for FREE SPEECH… because the pro-life movement DEPENDS ON IT! Inbox Life Legal Defense Foundation via mta-bbcspool.convio.net Jan 24, 2024, 7:06 PM (5 days ago) to me Fighting for FREE SPEECH… because the pro-life movement DEPENDS ON IT! First Amendment freedoms are essential to American democracy and are critical in the fight for life. But our Founders could not have anticipated the explosion of social media and its potential for the expression of ideas to a nearly unlimited global audience. This raises novel legal questions regarding constitutional rights – and Life Legal is responding to safeguard pro-life speech. Social media companies are misappropriating the First Amendment to justify suppressing conservative viewpoints. Users upload their own content to these sites, but the biggest social media platforms are clamoring for unrestricted “editorial discretion” – the ability to curate and edit user content to align with their views. This allows internet companies to control the spread of information on their sites, promoting some viewpoints and silencing others. Recognizing the danger of this practice, Texas enacted H.B. 20 to ban viewpoint censorship by the largest social media platforms. In response, NetChoice, a trade company representing Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Google (which owns YouTube), and TikTok, filed lawsuits to block enforcement of H.B. 20 and a similar Florida law. NetChoice has a monopoly on social media usage that dwarfs the influence of its competitors. The content these platforms choose to display – or censor – heavily influences a vast number of viewers. Facebook and YouTube have a combined 5.7 billion active monthly users. Despite its claim that all social media platforms “foster self-expression on an array of topics as diverse as their user base,” NetChoice asserts that “buried somewhere” in the First Amendment “lies a corporation’s unenumerated right to muzzle speech.” At issue is the extent to which the First Amendment protects viewpoint discrimination by a social media host who exercises editorial discretion over the speech of others. This has serious ramifications for pro-life speech. Life Legal and many other pro-life organizations have experienced significant suppression of our content by Facebook and other platforms. This censorship makes it difficult for potential viewers to find our content – even on our website. Profiles that are promoted by social media platforms are ranked higher on Google and other search engines, which means more people will visit the profile’s website. Not only do pro-lifers have a constitutional right to free speech, but the Supreme Court has held that the First Amendment also protects the right of the public to receive ideas as “a necessary predicant to the recipient’s meaningful exercise of his own rights of speech, press, and political freedom.” (Board of Education v. Pico, 1982) NetChoice won an early victory in the Texas case when the district court blocked enforcement of the anti-censorship law. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals then reversed and expressly rejected “the idea that corporations have a freewheeling First Amendment right to censor what people say.” Because of the significant implications of the NetChoice cases, Life Legal submitted an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to uphold the Fifth Circuit Court’s decision. Our brief exposes the social media giants’ “quest for an unfettered First Amendment right to engage in viewpoint discrimination.” We navigate the application of free speech law to social media platforms and argue that the First Amendment does not protect NetChoice’s censorship of conservative views. As social media behemoths seek to suppress unpopular opinions, we will fight against them. Please stand with us to fight social media giants who seek to censor pro-life speech. Please consider making a tax-deductible gift of $25, $50, or even $100 to ensure that pro-lifers can continue to be a voice for the most vulnerable on all platforms. We are so grateful for your faithful prayers and support. Standing for LIFE, Alexandra Snyder Chief Executive Officer "Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter." Proverbs 24:11 PLEASE DONATE TODAY! SHARE ON FACEBOOK Please pray for Life Legal cases and clients. Click here or on the image above to view and print our most current prayer requests. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him. (1 John 5:15) PLEASE DONATE TODAY! Connect with us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Instagram Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe Life Legal Defense Foundation https://lifelegaldefensefoundation.org