TUESDAY, JANUARY 24 at 10:00 AM ET
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In the months ahead, the Supreme Court will determine First Amendment and statutory limits on state laws that could damage the attractiveness of major social media platforms to digital advertisers. The Court will determine whether users can sue social media platforms for alleged injury resulting from content that platforms recommend to users. Content pushed to users is a critical user engagement tool that promotes increased ad revenues.
The Court is also considering whether lawmakers can prohibit censorship of candidates or political viewpoints on social media platforms. Facebook, Google and tech industry advocates worry that misinformation or extremist viewpoints will discourage digital advertisers.
At the same time, Republicans, now in control of the House, are attacking social media platforms for alleged bias against conservative views and messages. State lawmakers and regulators are increasingly interested in treating social media as common carriers, imposing a type of "net neutrality" obligation on the content displayed or published on the social media "town square."
Apart from policy risks to the autonomy of social media platforms to design their products and services, the FTC is working on rules that could restrict the use of personal data for targeted advertising, presenting risk to social media's ability to monetize user engagement. Social media is dealing with a policy squeeze.
As digital advertising slows in the current economic environment, legal and regulatory pressures further complicate the outlook for major social media platforms. We'll focus on the substantive risks and the timing of major actions and decisions. We hope you will join us.
