US Supreme Court frustrated and wary over legal shield for tech companies

In a case with the potential to alter the very structure of the internet, the Supreme Court did not appear ready Tuesday to limit a law that protects social media platforms from lawsuits over their users’ posts.

In the course of a sprawling argument lasting almost three hours, the justices seemed to view the positions taken by the two sides as too extreme, giving them a choice between exposing search engines and Twitter shares to liability on the one hand and protecting algorithms that promote pro-Islamic State group content on the other.

At the same time, they expressed doubts about their own competence to find a middle ground.