Murthy v. Missouri

Murthy v. Missouri, Supreme Court No. 23-411, is a lawsuit by states and websites against federal government censorship on the internet. Oral argument is on March 18, 2024.

A case to be heard on the same day, involving similar issues, is NRA v. Vullo.

Questions Presented

As explained by the federal government's merits brief in this Murthy case:

Respondents are two States and five individual users of social-media platforms who allege that the federal government transformed the private platforms’ contentmoderation decisions into state action and violated the First Amendment by communicating with the platforms about content moderation and responding to the platforms’ inquiries about matters of public health. The district court issued a preliminary injunction that, as modified by the court of appeals, restricts speech by thousands of federal officials and employees concerning any content posted by anyone on any social-media platform.

The questions presented are:

1. Whether respondents have Article III standing.

2. Whether the government’s challenged conduct transformed private social-media companies’ contentmoderation decisions into state action and violated respondents’ First Amendment rights.

3. Whether the terms and breadth of the preliminary injunction are proper.