In law, metaphors have a constitutive value and, once established, affect the debate and the decisions of the Courts for a long time. Since 1997 (Reno vs. American Civil Liberties Union), the Supreme Court has used the metaphor of the free market of ideas to define the internet, thus addressing the regulation of the net as a matter of freedom of speech. In 2017, however, in the Packingham vs. North Carolina decision, social networks were defined as ‘the new free market. of ideas’
Source: https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/01/26/internet-regulation-freedom/