ICLE on Murthy v Missouri

ICLE’s amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court’s Murthy v. Missouri case was cited by Tech Policy Press in a story about the case. You can read the full piece here.

International Center For Law & Economics

• The International Center for Law & Economics (ICLE) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan global research and policy center that builds intellectual foundations for sensible, economically sound policy. ICLE promotes using law-and-economics methods and economic learning to inform policy debates. The brief argues that the First Amendment safeguards the marketplace of ideas from government interference, recognizing that challenging false speech with true speech is the solution. Government coercion to suppress dissenting views undermines the scientific enterprise and deprives the public of informed decision-making. Unpopular speech may be silenced without protection, hindering societal progress and democracy. The marketplace allows for the competition of ideas, where truth can prevail over falsehood through rational discourse.
• The brief also argues that government intervention in content moderation on social media platforms is unconstitutional, as it violates the First Amendment’s prohibition against abridging speech based on its message, ideas, subject matter, or content. The competitive nature of the marketplace of ideas ensures that social media platforms adjust their content moderation practices based on consumer demand and market forces without the need for government interference.
• The Fifth Circuit’s test for determining government coercion, derived from Bantam Books, fails to capture the essence of the Supreme Court’s ruling, which focuses on the objective actions of the government rather than the subjective response of private actors.