A ‘Radical’ Ruling Lets Texas Ban Social Media Moderation

A federal appeals court has allowed Texas to enforce a state law banning pornography on social media.

The law was found to violate the First Amendment right to moderate user-submitted content by a US District Court judge. A panel of three judges stayed the preliminary injunction on Wednesday after Ken Paxton appealed the injunction to the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

The judges did not explain their reasoning. The panel ruling did not say how each judge voted.

The court ruling isstartlingly radical, according to the internet policy counsel at TechFreedom. There are many challenges to applying this law. Barthold said that no one besides lawyers, judges, experts in the field and the law's own sponsors know what compliance with this law looks like.

The state law says that the ruling is a big win against Big Tech.

Judges struggle with basic tech concepts.

The judges seemed to struggle with basic tech concepts during the oral arguments held on Monday. The judges were skeptical of the arguments made by NetChoice and the CCIA, which sued Texas to block the law. One judge wondered if phone companies have a First Amendment right to kick people off of their services, and another wondered if the site was even a website.

Judge Edith Jones told the lawyer for NetChoice and CCIA that their clients are internet providers. Both groups have Amazon, eBay, Facebook, and other members.

The judge suggested that if the tech platforms succeeded, it would allow phone companies to kick off users.

The Federal Communications Commission regulates telephone companies as common carriers. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has argued that digital platforms could be regulated as common carriers.

CNN tech reporter Brian Fung detailed the Fifth Circuit judges confusion in a thread. Even though the First Amendment guarantees free speech for Congress, the First Amendment has a right to ban certain kinds of speech. Scott Keller, the lawyer for the tech groups, pointed out that the government does not have the power to dictate what private entities can and cannot do.