Judge Defers Ruling on NetChoice Summary Judgment Motion vs. Ark. Social Media Law

U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks for Western Arkansas in Fayetteville granted in part and denied in part the Arkansas attorney general's motion to deny or defer consideration of NetChoice's motion for summary judgment against SB-396, the state’s age verification Social Media Safety Act, until discovery is complete (see 2312110032), said the judge’s signed opinion and order Sunday (docket 5:23-cv-05105). The judge also granted in part and denied in part NetChoice’s motion to stay discovery (see 2310300008), it said. Limited discovery may proceed before the court considers summary judgment, said the opinion and order. The court finds that, “out of an abundance of caution,” limited discovery is “appropriate” into the services that NetChoice members provide to users that allegedly protect children from harmful material on their platforms, it said. In arguing for a discovery stay, NetChoice had warned of the chilling effect that expansive discovery would have on its members’ First Amendment rights. The court agrees that expansive discovery “is inappropriate here,” said the judge’s opinion and order. But the court is “unpersuaded” that the limited discovery he’s ordering “imposes an undue hardship on NetChoice’s members,” it said. Brooks’ Aug. 31 order granted NetChoice’s motion for a preliminary injunction to block AG Tim Griffin (R)’s enforcement of SB-396 (see 2309010024).