Content Moderation or Censorship: Discussing Murthy v. Missouri with Guest Landis Best

NYCLA is proud to kick off the first episode of the fourth season of the NYCLA Amicus Curiae Podcast with our esteemed guest Landis Best, Co-Chair of Cahill Gordon & Reindel's First Amendment & Media Litigation practice group. The topic for discussion is the formally known Missouri v. Biden case, now referred to as Murthy v. Missouri. The issue at hand: when do the acts of government officials who lobby social media companies to remove what it deems to be harmful misinformation cross into a violation of the 1st Amendment and free speech? Are these government actors coercing private companies and forcing them to silence voices counter to their own? In short form, did the government make the social media companies such as Twitter and Facebook an offer they couldn't refuse?  Or is this a case of the government exercising its right to protect its citizens? Our host Dan Wiig sat down with Landis to discuss the Missouri v. Biden case, the implications of the 5th Circuit's ruling, the 1st Amendment, Section 230, The Twitter Files, and how the government's actions may or may not have been constitutional. The Supreme Court granted certiorari in Murthy v. Missouri in October 2023. The impact of the Court's ruling could ultimately define how the government may or may not interact with social media companies in the United States. This episode is informative, enlightening, and balanced - it should not be missed!   More About Our Guest Landis Best is Co-Chair of Cahill Gordon & Reindel's First Amendment & Media Litigation practice group, and represents global corporations, multinational financial institutions, and leading media companies in litigation and appeals, as well as before government and regulatory bodies.  Her clients have included ABC, CBS, HSBC, The New Yorker, The New York Times Company, & The Motion Picture Association of America. She has been named a top litigator by Chambers USA.  A graduate of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Duke University School of Law, Landis clerked for the Hon. William H. Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and the Hon. N. Carlton Tilley, Jr., of the U.S. District Court, Middle District of North Carolina.