You are currently viewing Court upholds Texas law banning social media censorship
court-upholds-texas-law-banning-social-media-censorship

Court upholds Texas law banning social media censorship

A US court of appeal upheld a Texas law that blocks social media from censoring a user’s viewpoint. As reported by Reuters, the appeal was rejected on September 16.

Meanwhile, tech industry groups kicked against the ruling. They argue that it is a step in the wrong direction as it would give users with a large platform, the freedom to promote dangerous content.

Popular social media companies like Twitter and Facebook have policies against posts that promote or incite violence. It was why they had several clashes with former US president, Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, conservatives and right-wing commentators have argued that the policy was used to suppress their thoughts online.

Also read:
– FTC to probe gig companies over working conditions
– Controversial social media app Parler moves to ‘uncancelable’ cloud services
– Dangers of downloading movies illegally from torrent sites.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New Orleans, threw out the appeal case and it could end up in the US Supreme Court.

“Today we reject the idea that corporations have a freewheeling First Amendment right to censor what people say,” Judge Andrew Oldham had said during his ruling.

The Texas law has a provision for users or the state’s attorney general to sue any social media company with more than 50 million monthly users that censors viewpoints.

The basis of the law is that the companies’ policies violate free speech rights and cannot be enforced. And it is not just Texas, a similar ruling was made in Florida, in May 2022.

Tech companies fear that while everyone has a viewpoint, some are more dangerous and could set violent actions in motion.

For your daily dose of tech, lifestyle, and trending content, make sure to follow Plat4om on Twitter @Plat4omLive, on Instagram @Plat4om, on LinkedIn at Plat4om, and on Facebook at Plat4om. You can also email us at info@plat4om.com and join our channel on Telegram at Plat4om. Finally, don’t forget to subscribe to OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

Onwuasoanya Obinna

A reader of books and stringer of words. Passionate about Science and Tech. When not writing or reading he is surfing the web and Tweeting.