Supreme Court Blocks Texas Law that Censors Social Media

The Supreme Court buckled down and blocked a pending Texas law that controlled social media censorship. The law bans online platforms from restricting users’ political views. 

The 5-4 ruling comes after tech and social media companies argued the law would violate an individual’s First Amendment, which is freedom of speech. The Texas law will allow Texans and the state of Texas to sue companies that “censor” an individual based on their viewpoints by banning them, discriminating against them, and removing their posts. 

Though it remains blocked right now, it moves to the 5th U.S. Circut of Court of Appeals.

The Computer and Communications Industry president, Matthew Schruers, filed the petition and said, “We are encouraged that this attack on First Amendment rights has been halted until a court can fully evaluate the repercussions of Texas’s ill-conceived statute.” 

According to Politico, HB 20, “could drastically change the way social media companies operate by restricting their freedom to police their platforms and forcing the platforms to justify decisions they make on multitudes of posts a day.”

Florida has a similar law, SB 7072, that the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled was “largely unconstitutional” and violated the First Amendment rights. Moreover, similar bills have been introduced in Michigan and Georgia.