Public-Private Partnerships After Murthy v. Missouri

Abstract

This essay considers the future of public-private collaboration in the wake of the Murthy v. Missouri litigation, which cast doubt on the constitutionality of information sharing between federal agencies and social media companies. The litigation has been a good and a bad teacher. On one hand, the lower court decisions made legible the risks to free expression, accountability, transparency, and intimate privacy posed by government-industry collaborations. On the other hand, the litigation chilled information sharing between federal agencies, state election officials, and social media companies at the very moment that such collaboration could help protect against foreign malign influence operations designed to undermine the integrity of the 2024 elections. We must rebuild the public-private collaborations that protect democratic processes, guided by these lessons. Government can work cooperatively with tech companies without sacrificing free speech, but it must do with commitments to accountability, transparency, and intimate privacy in mind.