If you thought Democratic politicians were already too involved in what Americans say online, Chicago may have found a new approach: just tax it.
Chicago’s new “social media amusement tax [1]” is now facing a lawsuit from NetChoice, a major tech trade association representing multiple tech companies, who say the plan violates the First Amendment and unfairly targets online publishers.
Yes, you read that right. According to the lawsuit, Chicago is slapping on a fee on social media platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and X based on how many users they have in Chicago. The tax charges companies 50 cents per user each month after the first 100,000 users, with the city hoping to rake in roughly $31 million a year for future mental health programs.
City officials insist it’s just an “amusement tax.” Critics say that’s like calling the First Amendment a carnival ride.
NetChoice argues the policy singles out social media companies – essentially taxing certain publishers because of the type of speech they host online.
In its lawsuit filed on Friday, March 13, the group says the measure, which went into effect on January 1, violates the Illinois Constitution because it is an unauthorized occupation tax – and violates the First Amendment and the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The taxing move by the Chicago Democrats is not surprising. With the legislation, the more successful a company is (the more users they get), the more the government is targeting them. But the Democrats have never been a group to offer American companies “incentives” for anything – only punishments.
The bigger question now heads to court: Can the government slap a tax on platforms that host speech without crossing the constitutional line? If the answer is yes, don’t be surprised if every other Democratic municipality in the country follows suit – and soon comes after the users (YOU) for posting all of those cat videos.