Ashley Gold
A federal appeals court dealt social media giants a blow Friday when it upheld a Texas law that seeks to stop platforms from removing posts if the removal can be viewed as discriminating against a “viewpoint.”
Driving the news: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the Texas law, HB20, does not violate the First Amendment rights of social media platforms.
Why it matters: If the law goes into effect, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media companies with more than 50 million users will effectively be prevented from enforcing content-related rules on any user postings that can claim to express a political view.
Between the lines: Social media companies face pressure from the right to “censor” less and from the left to take down more content to limit the spread of misinformation.
Context: Texas’ law has been upheld and rejected by a number of courts already. In May, the Supreme Court blocked it from taking effect before tossing it back to the Fifth Circuit.
How it works: The Texas law bars platforms from acting to “block, ban, remove, de-platform, demonetize, de-boost, restrict, deny equal access or visibility to, or otherwise discriminate against expression.” Individuals and the Texas Attorney General can sue large social media platforms for violations.
What they’re saying: “Today we reject the idea that corporations have a freewheeling First Amendment right to censor what people say,” the judges wrote in their ruling.
The other side: Critics of the law say it would force platforms to host dangerous and illicit content and fill social media platforms with spam and hate speech.
What’s next: The law won’t take effect yet. First, the Fifth Circuit has to issue instructions to a lower court, and a Supreme Court appeal from tech groups is likely.
Courtesy: (Axios)
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