A federal appeals court on Friday overturned a lower court order blocking a Texas law banning large social media platforms from removing political posts.
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Andrew S. Oldham, a known conservative, said, “I reject the idea that companies today have a freewheeling First Amendment right to censor what people say.” says. One member of his panel of three judges dissented from part of the ruling.
The law allows individuals or the Texas Attorney General’s office to sue social media platforms with more than 50 million monthly users in the United States for deleting political views. The law is largely a product of conservative outrage over posts that have been removed for violating social media platform rules.
This puts immense political pressure on platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter over their decisions to remove content they deem false, hateful, or violent. It happens when you are facing Republicans have generally asked platforms to leave more posts, while Democrats have asked to be more aggressive about removing some content.
Lawmakers in Washington are calling for a change in the law known as Section 230. The law protects platforms from liability for user-posted content and encourages companies to become stronger or more generous. However, these proposals have received little support.
After the law was passed last year, two tech industry groups, NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association, argued that social media companies have the First Amendment right to remove posts they deem inappropriate. sued to block the law. Another federal court has blocked a similar law in Florida.
Friday’s ruling is the latest turn in the legal debate over the law. Last year, a district court blocked the law. The Court of Appeals opposed the decision, paving the way for the law to be enforced. No law will be enforced in Friday’s decision. This requires the Court of Appeals to issue directions to the lower courts.
It looks like the legal battle isn’t over yet. Matt Schruers, president of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, said the group was “evaluating options.” NetChoice said, “We are confident that when the U.S. Supreme Court hears one of our cases, it will uphold the First Amendment rights of websites, platforms and apps.”