Tech Groups Urge Supreme Court to Block Texas Social Media Law – By Edward Moyer (CNET) / May 14, 2022
A pair of industry groups representing companies like Google and Meta want the law put on hold again till it can make its way through the lower courts.
Two lobbying groups for Big Tech companies like Google, Meta and Twitter have asked the US Supreme Court to block a Texas law that prohibits large social media sites from banning users or removing posts based on political viewpoints.
NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association filed an application with the court on Friday for an emergency stay of the law, which lets site users or Texas’ attorney general sue companies when posts are taken down. The law went into effect Wednesday after a federal appeals court lifted an earlier injunction against it. The lobbying groups want the law to be blocked again until appeals can wind their way through lower courts.
In their filing, the lobbying groups say the law prevents social media sites from “engaging in any viewpoint-based editorial discretion” and would “compel platforms to disseminate all sorts of objectionable” content, including terrorist propaganda, hate speech and posts that put children’s health at risk. They also say the law would “fundamentally transform” theses sites’ business models and services.
