big tech digital ad tax maryland court.

A federal appeals court has ruled that part of a first-in-the-nation tax on digital advertising in Maryland aimed at Big Tech is unconstitutional. The ruling on Friday by a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says a ban on identifying the tax as a way of passing it along to customers violates free speech. The ruling reverses a decision by U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby and sends the case back to her with instructions to consider an appropriate remedy in light of the panel’s decision. Big Tech has argued the 2021 law unfairly targets companies like Meta, Google and Amazon.