{"id":1077788,"date":"2021-12-02T18:29:17","date_gmt":"2021-12-02T23:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1077788"},"modified":"2021-12-02T18:29:21","modified_gmt":"2021-12-02T23:29:21","slug":"federal-judge-blocks-texas-social-media-censorship-law-abbotts-office-slams-move-as-hostile-to-americas-free-speech-foundation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-judge-blocks-texas-social-media-censorship-law-abbotts-office-slams-move-as-hostile-to-americas-free-speech-foundation\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal Judge Blocks Texas Social Media Censorship Law, Abbott\u2019s Office Slams Move As \u2018Hostile\u2019 To America\u2019s Free Speech Foundation"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">38<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffederal-judge-blocks-texas-social-media-censorship-law-abbotts-office-slams-move-as-hostile-to-americas-free-speech-foundation%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1077788&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>On Wednesday, a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction against a Texas social media \u201ccensorship\u201d law which would prevent Big Tech giants like Twitter and Facebook from blocking content or banning users based on political viewpoints.<\/p>\n<p>In September, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed HB20 into law. \u201cThere is a dangerous movement by some social media companies to silence conservative ideas and values,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TexasGovernor\/videos\/551694886068292\">said<\/a> Abbott at the time. \u201cThis is wrong and we will not allow it in Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Judge Robert Pitman for the Western District of Texas granted the preliminary injunction and said that Big Tech companies have a First Amendment right to moderate content on their platforms.<\/p>\n<p>As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/tech\/services-and-software\/federal-judge-blocks-texas-social-media-censorship-law\/\">CNET<\/a> reported, Judge Pitman also rejected the defendants\u2019 argument that such companies are \u201ccommon carriers,\u201d adding that the state offered \u201cno convincing support for recognizing a governmental interest in the free and unobstructed use of common carriers\u2019 information conduits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis Court is convinced that social media platforms, or at least those covered by HB 20, curate both users and content to convey a message about the type of community the platform seeks to foster and, as such, exercise editorial discretion over their platform\u2019s content,\u201d Pitman wrote in his ruling. \u201cWithout editorial discretion, social media platforms could not skew their platforms ideologically, as the State accuses of them of doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Abbott spokesperson Renae Eze said that Abbott\u2019s office plans to appeal Pitman\u2019s ruling.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAllowing biased social media companies to cancel conservative speech is hostile to the free speech foundation America was built on. In Texas, we will always fight to defend Texans\u2019 freedom of speech,\u201d Eze said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/technology\/583994-judge-blocks-texas-social-media-censorship-law\">statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As CNET reported, \u201ca federal judge blocked a Florida law in June from taking effect that would have allowed the state to punish social media companies for banning politicians or political candidates from their platforms. The judge in that case found the law\u2019s prohibition on \u2018deplatforming\u2019 may violate companies\u2019 free speech rights and said that the legislation on the whole is \u2018viewpoint-based.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That lawsuit in Florida was filed by internet industry groups NetChoice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association. These organizations also filed the lawsuit in Texas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHB 20 would unleash a tidal wave of offensive content and hate speech crashing onto users, creators, and advertisers. Thanks to the decision made today, social media can continue providing high-quality services to Americans while simultaneously keeping them safe from irresponsible users and offensive content,\u201d said Steve DelBianco, CEO of NetChoice, in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>In September, DelBianco described the Texas law as unconstitutional.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis bill abandons conservative values, violates the First Amendment and forces websites to host obscene, antisemitic, racist, hateful, and otherwise awful content,\u201d DelBianco said in a statement. \u201cModeration of user posts is crucial to keeping the internet safe for Texas families, but this bill would put the Texas government in charge of content policies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\">member<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Wednesday, a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction against a Texas social media \u201ccensorship\u201d law which would prevent Big Tech giants like Twitter and Facebook from blocking content or banning users based on political viewpoints.In September, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed HB20 into law. \u201cThere is a dangerous movement by some social media companies to silence conservative ideas and values,\u201d said Abbott at the time. \u201cThis is wrong and we will not allow it in Texas.\u201dJudge Robert Pitman for the Western District of Texas granted the preliminary injunction and said that Big Tech companies have a First Amendment right to moderate content on their platforms.As CNET reported, Judge Pitman also rejected the defendants\u2019 argument that such companies are \u201ccommon carriers,\u201d adding that the state offered \u201cno convincing support for recognizing a governmental interest in the free and unobstructed use of common carriers\u2019 information conduits.\u201d\u201cThis Court is convinced that social media platforms, or at least those covered by HB 20, curate both users and content to convey a message about the type of community the platform seeks to foster and, as such, exercise editorial discretion over their platform\u2019s content,\u201d Pitman wrote in his ruling. \u201cWithout editorial discretion, social media platforms could not skew their platforms ideologically, as the State accuses of them of doing.\u201dAbbott spokesperson Renae Eze said that Abbott\u2019s office plans to appeal Pitman\u2019s ruling.\u201cAllowing biased social media companies to cancel conservative speech is hostile to the free speech foundation America was built on. In Texas, we will always fight to defend Texans\u2019 freedom of speech,\u201d Eze said in a statement.As CNET reported, \u201ca federal judge blocked a Florida law in June from taking effect that would have allowed the state to punish social media companies for banning politicians or political candidates from their platforms. The judge in that case found the law\u2019s prohibition on \u2018deplatforming\u2019 may violate companies\u2019 free speech rights and said that the legislation on the whole is \u2018viewpoint-based.\u2019\u201dThat lawsuit in Florida was filed by internet industry groups NetChoice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association. These organizations also filed the lawsuit in Texas.\u201cHB 20 would unleash a tidal wave of offensive content and hate speech crashing onto users, creators, and advertisers. Thanks to the decision made today, social media can continue providing high-quality services to Americans while simultaneously keeping them safe from irresponsible users and offensive content,\u201d said Steve DelBianco, CEO of NetChoice, in a statement.In September, DelBianco described the Texas law as unconstitutional.\u201cThis bill abandons conservative values, violates the First Amendment and forces websites to host obscene, antisemitic, racist, hateful, and otherwise awful content,\u201d DelBianco said in a statement. \u201cModeration of user posts is crucial to keeping the internet safe for Texas families, but this bill would put the Texas government in charge of content policies.\u201dThe Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a member.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":77,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1077788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1077788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/77"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1077788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1077788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1077788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1077788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1077788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}