Major U.S. platforms can powerfully influence public discourse by removing, promoting, and otherwise moderating users’ online speech. Better information about their content moderation would help policymakers enact better laws. It
would also serve Internet users’ interests as readers, speakers, and participants in democracy.

A recent wave of “platform transparency laws” around the world now require such disclosures. The EU, for example, adopted transparency laws following extensive consultation with experts, and continues to take public comments on implementation issues. The U.S. approach has instead followed an increasingly familiar and depressing pattern: State lawmakers enact hastily-drafted laws, and platforms try to get those laws struck down as First Amendment violations. The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear cases about two such state laws, from Texas and Florida. Its review will encompass only portions of those states’ sweeping transparency mandates: the provisions concerning notice and appeal for individual users affected by content moderation. Its ruling on those questions, however, may effectively determine the constitutionality of the states’ other transparency mandates.