Judge halts Texas' social media 'censorship' law - Spectrum News
Seven new laws were slated to take effect in Texas on Thursday, among them one that would prohibit social media companies from censoring users based on viewpoints.
However, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman has granted a preliminary injunction requested by two trade organizations that represent social media platforms that would be affected by the law.
What You Need To Know
- U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman has granted a preliminary injunction halting a new law concerning social media from going into effect in Texas
- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Sept. 9 signed House Bill 20 into law. The law would punish social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook for alleged censorship of political viewpoints
- Judge Pitman, in granting the injunction, wrote that, "social media platforms have a First Amendment right to moderate content disseminated on their platforms.”
- A similar law went into effect in Florida earlier this year but was subsequently blocked by a federal judge
The bill passed during the second special session of the Texas Legislature earlier this year.
The law has a great deal of support among Texas Republicans who claim popular platforms such as Twitter and Facebook censor conservative viewpoints. A case in point would be former Republican President Donald Trump’s removal from the aforementioned platforms in the wake of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Conservatives said the suspensions confirmed their complaints that the large social media companies are biased against them. Many vowed to pass laws reining in big tech.
“Congress should act, but Congress is not going to act. I think is appropriate that states if they would choose to set that standard would be allowed to do that. and I would hope that the federal government or at least a federal judge, Twitter, respect those ideas about fairness in the marketplace," said Texas Republican Congressman Pete Session of Waco.
"We in the state of Texas believe that it is wrong to arbitrarily deny someone in as large a platform as these companies have," he said.
Still, it’s been pointed out that these are private companies moderating their platforms.
In granting the injunction, Judge Pitman wrote in part that “social media platforms have a First Amendment right to moderate content disseminated on their platforms.”
Jared Schroeder, associated professor of journalism at Souther Methodist University, specializes in First Amendment theory. He said social media companies are private entities that have the authority to manage their own spaces.
"If the decision will go the other way, we'd be looking at essentially a type of compelled speech, right, where the government is forcing a private entity to speak. It's forcing an entity to say or publish something that it otherwise wouldn't say or published," Schroeder said.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 20 into law in September. It would permit social media users to sue platforms if they believe they were censored based on viewpoints, and requires the companies to disclose when posts are removed.
“Big Tech’s efforts to silence conservative viewpoints is un-American, un-Texan and unacceptable and pretty soon it’s going to be against the law in the state of Texas,” Abbott said earlier this year.
In a statement to Capital Tonight, Abbott's press secretary Renae Eze said, “Allowing biased social media companies to cancel conservative speech is hostile to the free speech foundation America was built on. In Texas, we will always fight to defend Texans’ freedom of speech. Our office is working with the Office of the Attorney General to immediately appeal this ruling and protect Texans’ First Amendment rights.”
Schroeder said contrary to the arguments of Republicans, these platforms should not be considered "common carriers" like phone companies, which are forbidden from moderating content.
“Is it a good use of taxpayer money to continue to fight this legal battle? The answer's no, they should not. But that doesn't mean they won't appeal it, because sometimes winning the court battle isn't the only goal," Schroeder said.
While there is no evidence that tech companies are biased against conservatives, the narrative has been popular with Republicans since before President Trump was elected and only grew louder throughout his term. Trump getting banned for life from Twitter and suspended from Facebook after inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol riots only reinforced it.
Conservatives such as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, claim platforms such as Twitter target the right and violate their First Amendment rights.
Social media companies, however, have claimed that they don’t target conservatives and instead remove harmful speech that violates their terms of service.
The First Amendment protects people from censorship by the federal government rather than the private sector.
A similar bill was passed in Florida in May but was similarly blocked by a federal judge.
Social media executives have repeatedly been called to testify in congress about their policies. The political divisions are clear. Republicans charge that conservative voices are being censored. Democrats want more accountability over the spread of misinformation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
source: https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/austin/news/2021/12/02/federal-judge-puts-the-brakes-on-texas--social-media--censorship--law
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