State of Washington v. Meta Platforms, Inc.

On March 26, 2025, the Institute for Free Speech filed an amicus brief (known as a “memorandum of amicus curiae” in local parlance) in State of Washington v. Meta Platforms, Inc., (formerly doing business as Facebook, Inc.) in the Supreme Court of the State of Washington.

The brief urges the Washington Supreme Court to review and invalidate the state’s Fair Campaign Practices Act, arguing that the Act imposes excessive and duplicative disclosure requirements on platforms that host political advertising, despite advertisers already being required to disclose the same information. These burdens have forced major platforms like Meta to stop hosting political ads in Washington, chilling core political speech and disproportionately harming grassroots campaigns and outsider candidates who rely on digital advertising to communicate with voters.

The liability on intermediaries created by the act has a chilling effect by incentivizing them to self-censor or eliminate politically sensitive content altogether. It also not only undermines the First Amendment rights of speakers but disproportionately harms political candidates who lack the resources to navigate such constraints, thereby diminishing the quality of public discourse.

Our brief in support of Meta Platforms, Inc. calls for judicial review and reversal of these disclosure measures. Read the brief here.