Federal court upholds law banning tech companies from censoring viewpoints

Texas has been fighting in court to uphold a law that would ban tech companies from moderation based on viewpoints. The law was narrowly blocked by the Supreme Court, but this didn't seem to make a difference. The Washington Post reported that the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower Texas court decision to block the law.

The Post says the ruling is likely to lead to a Supreme Court battle over the future of online speech. It is possible that the 5th Circuit Court's opinion will encourage other states to pass similar laws.

The First Amendment doesn't grant protections for corporations to "muzzle speech" according to two other conservative judges who were nominated by the Trump administration.

The 5th Circuit Court's decision may not stand according to a statement from the legal director of Public Knowledge.

Bergmayer said that the Fifth Circuit ignored decades of First Amendment and Supreme Court precedent to reach a seemingly politically motivated decision.

The most recent decision to uphold the law was opposed by some tech industry representatives, according to The Post. The president of the Computer and Communications Industry Association is a critic of the Texas law. The ruling gives the government power to dictate what businesses must say in order to protect free speech, according to the Post.

The Texas law puts Americans at risk by forcing private companies to distribute dangerous content.

The verdict could result in platforms losing their ability to stop the spread of hate speech. He thinks that the ruling implies that newspapers could be ordered to publish propaganda or email filters that block political speech.

"Platforms need to be regulated, but rulings like this set back attempts to protect consumers online."