House Bill 20 was supposed to take effect Thursday. It bans big social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, from censoring users due to their political views. Governor Abbott claimed there is a movement by some social media companies to "silence conservative ideas and values."
Abbott wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post in September where he claimed the law had been needed for years. He also took to Twitter to say "Freedom of speech is under attack in Texas. There is a dangerous movement by some social media companies to silence conservative ideas and values."
Federal judge Robert Pittman in Austin ruled against the bill. UNT law professor Brian Owsley says the first amendment prevents the government from limiting free speech. It does not apply to private companies.
"The first amendment issue here is the state of Texas basically compelling speech by whatever platforms are at issue here," Owsley said. "Places like Facebook are private companies. They can censure speech if so inclined."
Owsley notes Judge Robert Pittman pointed out this decision didn't seem to apply or be a problem with smaller, more conservative platforms like Parler.
The law only applies to social media platforms with at least 50 million monthly users. Pittman pointed out that would also exclude sports and news websites. And he called some of the terms of the new law "prohibitively vague."
Pittman also noted a similar law in Florida was blocked in June from taking effect.
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