The law also does not cover sites dedicated to news, sports, entertainment, and other information that users do not primarily generate. Target sites are largely prohibited from deleting posts based on their expressive perspective, except for the threat of sexual exploitation of children, incitement to criminal activity, and violence.
According to two trading groups that challenged the law, this measure “will force the platform to spread all sorts of unfavorable perspectives. For example, Russian propaganda claiming that invasion of Ukraine is justified. A screed that denies or supports the ISIS Propaganda, Neo-Nazi or KKK Holocaust, which claims that radicalism is justified, and encourages children to engage in dangerous or unhealthy behaviors such as eating disorders. “
The law requires that the platform be treated as a general carrier that must convey the message of essentially all users, rather than as an editorial discretionary publisher.
In another case last week, the 11th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals Mainly supported A provisional injunction against similar Florida law.
“Social media platforms make essentially expressive editorial decisions.” Judge Kevin C. Newsom Written for the panel. “If the platform chooses to remove users or posts, prioritize content in viewer feeds and search results, or sanction violations of community standards, they will be in the First Amendment. Engage in protected activities. “
The First Amendment generally prohibits government restrictions on content- and perspective-based speech. In an urgent application to the Supreme Court, a trading group that challenged Texas law stated that Texas law violated these principles in all respects. “The HB20 is a completely unconstitutional law that enforces government-first speech from carefully selected private organizations and will cause significant disruption to the global operation of targeted Internet websites,” the application said. ..
In response to an urgent application“The platform is a 21st century descendant of telegraph and telephone companies, the traditional telecommunications carrier,” wrote Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. In short, Paxton writes that in general you need to accept all your customers.
