A federal appeals court has directed a lower federal court to consider the merits of a challenge to Maryland’s first-in-the-nation digital advertising tax on First Amendment grounds.

The nation's first tax on digital advertising was struck down as unconstitutional by a Maryland judge on Monday. It's a law that attorneys for Big Tech have contended unfairly targets companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon in a separate federal case against the same law.

Attorneys in a federal court challenge to Maryland’s first-in-the-nation digital ad tax argued Thursday about whether the law is a tax or an unconstitutional penalty targeting Big Tech.