In early September, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law House Bill 20, a new social media law targeting what Gov. Abbott called “a dangerous movement by social media companies to silence conservative viewpoints and ideas.” In late September, NetChoice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) sued Texas in federal court, arguing that HB 20 “violates the First Amendment of the Constitution.” Under HB 20 , which applies only to the largest U.S. social media companies, “a social media platform may not censor a user, a user’s expression, or a user’s ability to receive the expression of another person based on . . . the viewpoint of the user or another person.” This prohibition applies only if the “user” is a person who resides in, does business in, or “shares or receives expression” in Texas. The law is set to take effect on December 2, 2021. There are strong arguments against the law’s constitutionality. Social media companies are private entities, and as such there is extensive First Amendment jurisprudence (and a statute: Section 230 ) supporting their right to make content decisions as they see fit. That right includes the flexibility to make content decisions that reflect, […]
