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Appeals Court Upholds Texas Social Media Law on Censorship


A federal appeals court on Friday reversed a lower court order blocking a Texas law that prevents major social media platforms from removing political posts, a blow to tech companies. argue that their content moderation decisions are protected by the Constitution.

“Today we reject the idea that corporations have a First Amendment freedom to censor what people say,” said Judge Andrew S. Oldham of the United States Court of Appeals for the Round. Thursday, known as conservative, said in the court ruling. A member of the panel of three judges disagreed with parts 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 demeaning political views. The act is the product of anger among conservatives over posts that were taken down in large part because they violated the social media platform’s rules.

It comes as platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter face immense political pressure over decisions to take down content they deem disinformation or view as hostile or violent. Republicans often urge platforms to leave more posts behind, while Democrats call for them to be more active in removing some content.

Lawmakers in Washington have pushed for a change to the law, known as Section 230, which protects platforms from liability for user-submitted content, to push companies to become stronger. or more lenient. But those proposals have garnered little traction.

Two technology industry groups, NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association, sued to block the law after approved last year, says social media companies have First Amendment rights to remove posts they deem inappropriate. Another federal court blocked a similar law in Florida.

Friday’s ruling is the latest change in the controversy over the law. Last year, a district court blocked the law. The the appellate court disagreed with that decision, clearing the way for the law to take effect. But the Supreme Court stepped in at the behest of tech industry groups – blocking the law until the appeals court issues a more complete ruling. Friday’s decision does not allow the law to go into effect; that requires the appellate court to issue an order to the lower court.

The legal battle doesn’t seem to be over yet. Matt Schruers, president of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, said the group was “evaluating options”. NetChoice said it remains “convinced that when the United States Supreme Court hears one of our cases, it will uphold First Amendment rights to websites, platforms, and applications.” “.



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