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[ad_1] The US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on June 27, 2023. Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday blocked in full a lower court ruling that would have curbed the Biden administration's ability to communicate with social media companies about contentious content on such issues as Covid-19. The decision in a  short unsigned order  puts on hold a Louisiana-based judge's ruling in July that specific agencies and officials should be barred from meeting with companies to discuss whether certain content should be stifled. The Supreme Court also agreed to immediately take up the government's appeal, meaning it will hear arguments and issue a ruling on the merits in its current term, which runs until the end of June. Three conservative justices noted that they would have denied the application: Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch. "At this time in the history of our country, what the court has done, I fear, will be seen by so...

[ad_1] Bloomberg Creative | Bloomberg Creative Photos | Getty Images When Elon Musk announced his offer to buy Twitter for more than $40 billion , he told the public his vision for the social media site was to make sure it's "an inclusive arena for free speech." Musk's actions since closing the deal last year have illuminated how he sees the balance internet platforms must strike in protecting free expression versus user safety. While he's lifted restrictions on many previously suspended accounts including former President Donald Trump's , he's also placed new limitations on journalists' and others' accounts for posting publicly available flight information that he equated to doxxing . The saga of Musk's Twitter takeover has underscored the complexity of determining what speech is truly protected. That question is particularly difficult when it comes to online platforms, which create policies that impact wide swaths of users from differen...

[ad_1] A voter wearing a protective mask enters a polling location in Opelika, Alabama, U.S., on Tuesday, July 14, 2020. Elijah Nouvelage | Bloomberg | Getty Images Alabama Republicans on Friday defied a U.S.  Supreme Court  order by passing a new congressional map that includes only one  majority-Black district . The GOP-controlled Legislature had called a special session to redraw an earlier map after the Supreme Court reaffirmed a federal court order to include two districts where Black voters make up voting-age majorities, "or something quite close to it." But on Friday, state Republicans approved a new map with just one majority-Black seat and a second district that is approximately 40% Black. The map was completed Friday afternoon — hours before the court-ordered deadline for the Legislature to draw up new boundaries — as a compromise between the House and Senate versions. Democrats slammed the map and its drafters, arguing that legislators ignored a court order an...