Amicus Brief in Support of Florida’s Social Media Censorship Law

I previously blogged about the 5 amicus briefs filed in support of a preliminary injunction against Florida’s social media censorship law. Last week, an amicus brief came in favor of Florida and the censorship law from a pro se filer, Leonid Goldstein, who says he’s an editor of “defyccc.” According to the NY Times, “ccc” stands for “climate change cult,” which I assume Goldstein is defying. He’s on Twitter but he says he’s on Gab and Parler. I’m pretty sure Florida didn’t solicit this amicus brief.

Some representative passages:

• Goldstein questions the plaintiffs’ associational standing, a point I don’t believe the state raised itself. “It requires a particular brazenness for Trillion-dollar companies to send a trade association without assets to demand a preliminary injunction and/or temporary restraining order against the state of Florida.” Note: Goldstein lives in Texas. 🤷‍♂️
• “If the villains think they are targeted narrowly, it is because most of them are monopolies.” It’s literally impossible to have multiple monopolies.
• “In Florida alone, [the Internet services] caused more than 30,000 deaths by hiding information and spreading disinformation about Hydroxychloroquine-based treatment, and by intimidating hospitals and doctors using it.” Vaccines are key to a healthy society. So is media literacy.
• “Twitter provides a but [sic] telecommunications utility or network for the speech of its users. Twitter is neither religion nor political assembly.” Would you join the Church of Twitter? I might.
• “It is impossible to believe that 70 million US Twitter users consented to give Twitter virtually unlimited rights to moderate their communications with each other.” Have you read Twitter’s TOS?
• “Under the First Amendment, editorial powers are nearly absolute. Thus, claiming editorial rights on users’ communications, Big Tech demands nearly absolute control over lives of many of its users.” As they say in New Hampshire, LIVE FREE (OF BIG TECH) OR DIE.
• “Big Tech operates as if no humans are at helm.” So did HAL.

Case library (see also NetChoice’s library)

• Amicus Brief opposing the preliminary injunction from Leonid Goldstein
• Blog post recapping the Preliminary Injunction Hearing Against Florida’s Social Media Censorship Law
• Plaintiffs’ Reply Brief to Florida’s Opposition. Blog post.
• Florida Opposition to Preliminary Injunction. Blog post.
• Amicus briefs in support of the preliminary injunction
  • Internet Association
  • RCFP et al
  • EFF et al
  • Chamber of Progress et al
  • TechFreedom
• Blog post on the amicus briefs
• Preliminary injunction brief (if you get an error message downloading one of the files below, hit refresh)
  • Schruers declaration
  • Szabo declaration
  • Veitch declaration
  • Potts declaration
  • Rumenap declaration
  • Esparza declaration
  • Pavlovic declaration
• Blog post on preliminary injunction brief
• Netchoice v. Moody complaint.
• Text of SB 7072. Blog post on the statute.