Appeals court revives law targeting social media companies
A Texas law prohibiting large social media companies from removing political speech became the first of its kind to take effect Wednesday, posing complicated questions for major web platforms about how to comply with the rules.
The law, which applies to social media platforms in the United States with 50 million or more monthly active users, was passed last year by lawmakers who take issue with sites like Facebook and Twitter over their removal of posts from conservative publishers and personalities. The law makes it possible for users or the state’s attorney general to sue online platforms that remove posts because they express a certain viewpoint.
In a short order Wednesday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New Orleans, reversed an earlier ruling that stopped the state from enforcing the law. While tech industry groups challenging the law are expected to appeal the ruling, it creates uncertainty for major web platforms that could now face lawsuits when they decide to take down content for violating their rules.
The surprise ruling comes amid a broader debate in Washington, statehouses and foreign capitols about how to balance free expression with safety online. Some members of Congress have proposed making online platforms liable when they promote discriminatory ads or misinformation about public health. The European Union last month reached an agreement on rules meant to fight disinformation and increase transparency around how social media companies operate.
But conservatives have said that the platforms remove too much — rather than too little — content. Many of them cheered Elon Musk’s recent purchase of Twitter because he has promised lighter restrictions on speech. When the site banned then-president Donald Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, Republicans in statehouses proposed legislation to regulate how the companies enforce their policies.
“My office just secured another BIG WIN against BIG TECH,” Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general and a Republican, said in a tweet after the law was reinstated. A spokesperson for Paxton did not provide details of how the attorney general planned to enforce the law.