State Representative Alexander Kolodin (R-Scottsdale) promised the Arizona House would examine Attorney General Kris Mayes’ decision to join a coalition of attorneys general seeking to restore the government’s ability to communicate censorship requests to social media websites.
“Labeling speech dangerous and calling for it to be suppressed is the first act of tyrants,” Kolodin (pictured above, right) wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in response to Mayes’ decision to join the coalition. He added that the Arizona House “will be taking a very close look” at the move.
Mayes (pictured above, left) joined the coalition of 21 attorneys general in an amicus brief on Monday, stating in a press release that tech companies and the federal government “must have open communication in order to ensure the safety of Americans online.” Because of a stay that prevents such communication pending litigation, Mayes added that officials at all levels of government “cannot contact social media companies about dangerous online content.”
Federal officials were barred from communicating with social media companies for the purpose of censoring speech protected under the First Amendment last month due to a stay in Missouri v. Biden, in which the attorneys general of Louisiana and Missouri sued the Biden administration alleging the federal government is instructing social media companies to interfere with the First Amendment rights of their states’ citizens.
Western District of Louisiana Judge Terry A. Dougherty denied an appeal from the Biden administration days later, writing that the plaintiffs are likely to prove the government colluded with tech companies “to engage in view-point based suppression of free speech.”
The Arizona Sun Times contacted Mayes’ office to determine what types of “dangerous online content” she believes the government should ask to be removed, and asked for specific examples of removal requests made or advanced by the Arizona attorney general. A press contact for Mayes did not respond to an inquiry prior to press time.
