On Monday, the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) joined an amicus brief led by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The brief is in support of a petition for rehearing en banc in the case of Anderson v. TikTok. Other organizations involved include the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), Public Knowledge, Reason Foundation, and Wikimedia Foundation.

The case involves a decision by the Third Circuit, which held that First Amendment protection for editorial choices around displaying third-party speech is mutually exclusive from Section 230(c)(1) immunity. This decision cited the Supreme Court's recent ruling in Moody v. NetChoice.

The amicus brief argues that this decision contradicts the text of Section 230, reasonable rulings from other circuits, and decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court. It further contends that not protecting platforms' editorial choices would make Section 230(c)(1) immunity nearly meaningless. This could allow plaintiffs to bypass the statute and undermine Congress' policy goal of encouraging internet intermediaries to facilitate third-party speech on a large scale.

The brief also warns that if this ruling stands, it could harm users' free expression rights by incentivizing platforms to censor third-party speech. This would threaten the open internet and its ability to allow anyone with an internet connection to communicate globally in a cost-effective and efficient manner.