A federal court struck down a Florida anti-censorship social media law, saying the law's content moderation restrictions violate the First Amendment.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit has ruled against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republicans in the state, who passed the state's social media law, SB 7072, last year. The law prevents social media companies from de-platforming political candidates.

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"It is substantially likely that social-media companies — even the biggest ones — are 'private actors' whose rights the First Amendment protects," the 11th Circuit wrote in its decision.

Republicans in Florida and in Texas, which passed a similar social media law last year, have tried to argue that their anti-censorship laws don't violate the First Amendment because social media giants are common carriers or businesses of public accommodation, similar to utility companies or telecommunications companies, which are not allowed to discriminate against consumers who are willing to pay fees.

The two laws are viewed as bellwethers for the future of content moderation on social media platforms, which further highlights the stakes of a pending Supreme Court decision regarding the legality of the Texas law.

The Florida law had been paused in court after opposition from a group of tech industry, civil society, and libertarian organizations, which argued that it harms consumers by stopping online providers from creating healthy online communities, restricts Floridians' expression, and puts domestic violence and cyberstalking victims at risk of serious harm.

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The law was intended to make it illegal to ban state political candidates from Facebook and Twitter, and it would impose penalties of $250,000 a day on social media companies for any statewide candidate removed from a platform. De-platforming more local candidates would incur a fee of $25,000 a day.

The law also forced social media giants to give users seven days' notice before they are likely to be banned in order to give them a chance to change their behavior and resolve the problem on the platform.