A federal court in Texas dealt a major blow to social media companies determined to limit free speech on their platforms.
On Friday, a federal appeals court upheld a Texas law that prohibits media platforms with more than 50 million monthly users from censoring users based on viewpoint expression. The ruling was a big win for Governor Greg Abbott and free speech advocates who have accused media giants like Meta, Twitter and Google of intentionally censoring users.
In his opinion, Federal Judge Andrew S. Oldham of the Fifth Circuit said the platforms argued for “a rather odd inversion of the First Amendment” that “buried somewhere in the person’s enumerated right to free speech lies a corporation’s unenumerated right to muzzle speech.”
“Today we reject the idea that corporations have a freewheeling First Amendment right to censor what people say,” Judge Oldham continued.
The Texas legislature passed HB 20 last fall out of concern companies were deliberately censoring conservative users but tech companies quickly filed lawsuits alleging the law is unconstitutional.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton praised the win on Twitter.
The Computer and Communications Industry Association, one of the technology trade groups that had sued to block the law, said it strongly disagreed with the court’s decision, according to CNN.
“Forcing private companies to give equal treatment to all viewpoints on their platforms places foreign propaganda and extremism on equal footing with decent Internet users, and places Americans at risk,” said Matt Schruers, CCIA’s president. “‘God Bless America’ and ‘Death to America’ are both viewpoints, and it is unwise and unconstitutional for the State of Texas to compel a private business to treat those the same.”
The ruling was a major step in a legal battle that has the potential to end up at the Supreme Court. Now that the Fifth Circuit has reached a different conclusion from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals on similar questions, the stage is set for the issue to be decided at the Supreme Court.
In May, the Supreme Court issued an emergency decision, temporarily blocking HB 20 from taking effect as the litigation continued. The 5-4 vote sent the case back to the Fifth Circuit, resulting in Friday’s outcome.
This story is developing. Stay with American Liberty News for the latest updates.
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