Texas Social Media “Censorship” Ban Goes Into Effect

September 17, 2022 Republicans, Social Media

The Texas Tribune reports:

A Texas law prohibiting large social media companies from banning users’ posts based on their political viewpoints will go into effect after a federal appeals court on Friday lifted a block placed on the statute.

NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association sued Texas after the law, known as House Bill 20, was passed last year, arguing that internet companies have a First Amendment right to curate content posted on their platforms and decide which types of speech they saw fit to be there.

In its ruling, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed with the plaintiffs’ argument that the law was unconstitutional, saying they were seeking protection to “muzzle free speech.”

Bloomberg News reports:



Critics of the law have said it will wreak havoc on social media platforms by removing their ability to moderate and remove content that falls outside user guidelines. It would also allow Texas residents to sue platforms if posts are removed by claiming that their content is being censored. The law runs counter to rising pressure on social media platforms to tighten their rules on content moderation and more effectively ban posts that incite violence or harm.

This week, executives from Meta, YouTube, Twitter and TikTok testified before a Senate committee and faced questions over what the companies are doing to protect users. A similar law in Florida was struck down by the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. In its statement, NetChoice noted that that decision was unanimous. The group had hoped that the New Orleans panel would follow the same path.

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