Republicans are touting a new Texas social media law as a blow against Big Tech censorship, but the measure is expected to run into trouble in the courts.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed HB 20 on Thursday, and it is slated to take effect in November. It will make Texas the latest Republican state to go after social media platforms — such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube — for alleged anti-conservative bias and censorship.
Florida passed a similar law last month, but a federal judge blocked it from going into effect. Other Republican-led states, such as Utah and North Dakota, are also pushing for reduced censorship.
The Texas bill would stop social media giants with more than 50 million monthly users from banning content based on user viewpoints.
It would also require social media companies to be transparent about content moderation policies, publish reports about content they remove, and create appeals processes for users who disagree with content moderation decisions.
"We will always defend the freedom of speech in Texas, which is why I am proud to sign House Bill 20 into law to protect first amendment rights in the Lone Star State," Abbott said in a statement Thursday.
"Social media websites have become our modern-day public square. They are a place for healthy public debate where information should be able to flow freely — but there is a dangerous movement by social media companies to silence conservative viewpoints and ideas. That is wrong, and we will not allow it in...
Read Full Story: https://news.yahoo.com/texas-social-media-anti-censorship-095200298.html
Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.