Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed a bill that will ban large social media companies from blocking or restricting users based upon their viewpoint, something conservatives have long complained of.
New Texas law will ban social media companies from blocking users based on viewpoint
Conservatives have long claimed that social media companies are censoring them based on their political affiliation, although the companies deny such accusations. Similar complaints of censorship have been made by various religious groups.
On Thursday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) signed a new bill into law that will prohibit large tech companies from removing, restricting or blocking people or their posts based on their viewpoint within its content.
“It is now law that conservative viewpoints in Texas cannot be banned on social media,” Abbott said.
The law will only apply to social media companies that have more than 50 million monthly active users in the United States. The law would affect some of the largest social media companies such as Facebook, Twitter and Google’s YouTube, the Washington Post reported.
Law of use social media platforms as “common carriers” for all users
The Texas law is built upon an opinion suggested earlier this year by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, referring to social media platforms, arguing that they function as “common carriers,” and should be forced to host all users.
State and users can sue social media companies for “wrongfully” banning or blocking Texas users
The provisions of the law require social media companies to create reports on any illegal or potentially policy-violating content. They are also required to set up a complaint system that allows people to challenge companies’ decisions to remove content or flag illegal activities.
Under Texas law, the state attorney general and individuals could file lawsuits if they believe that the tech companies had banned them from their platforms wrongfully.
It is believed that the new Texas law will set the stage for a legal battle between the state and the tech industry and expect a challenge to be mounted to block the law from going into effect while litigation makes its way through the courts.
Florida has law protecting political candidates against social media bans
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) also signed a bill into law that bans social media companies from suspending political candidates prior to elections. The law was aimed at making it easier for the Florida State Attorney General and individuals to sue tech companies when they believe they have acted unfairly.
However, a federal judge blocked the law from going into effect in June after tech industry groups brought a challenge. The DeSantis administration appealed the ruling.
