Elon Musk’s social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, has sued the state of California over a law that requires social media companies to disclose their policies for removing offensive content, including hate speech, misinformation, and harassment. The legislation, Assembly bill 587, was signed into law by California Governor Gavin Newsom a year ago. In the lawsuit filed against state Attorney General Robert Bonta, X Corporation argues that the law is unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment.

Assembly bill 587 mandates social media platforms to post their content moderation policies, which they already do. Additionally, these platforms are required to submit a report to the state twice a year regarding their approaches to addressing hate speech, racism, misinformation, foreign political interference, and other issues. However, X Corporation claims that this law compels companies to engage in speech against their will and interferes with their constitutionally-protected editorial judgments.

Since Elon Musk took over Twitter in October 2022, he has made significant changes to the platform’s content moderation system. He has laid off workers responsible for monitoring and removing problematic content and reinstated accounts that were previously banned for hate speech, promoting Nazi and white nationalist material, and harassing users. Musk also disbanded the Trust and Safety Council, an advisory group intended to address issues such as hate speech, harassment, and child exploitation.

Elon Musk has described himself as a “free speech absolutist,” but he has faced criticism for suspending the accounts of journalists who covered his takeover of Twitter. The lawsuit argues that the law violates the First Amendment rights of companies like X Corporation and pressures them to remove or demonetize constitutionally-protected speech.

Jesse Gabriel, the bill’s author and a Democratic Assemblyman, emphasized that the law is a transparency measure that only requires companies to be upfront about their content moderation practices. He stated that the law passed with strong bipartisan support and that if Twitter has nothing to hide, they should not object to the bill.

As of now, representatives for X Corporation and the attorney general’s office have not provided any comments regarding the lawsuit.