A Texas law that prohibits social media platforms from prohibiting users based on their viewpoints was reinstated by an appeals court. While the Republican-leaning court didn’t appraise the Texas internet censorship law, it allowed it to return into effect even as a legal battle plays out.
The Texas Internet Censorship law was passed by the legislature in the state, noting that social media companies have a marked anti-conservative predisposition.
Courts in the US are sharply divided along political lines and the political prejudice goes all the way up to the Supreme Court, where the Republicans hold a 6-3 sway. This bias has become more obvious during Trump’s reign and all court pronouncements are colored by its political bias.
The GOP-backed Texas Internet Censorship law was reinstated by the federal appeals court and is a win for the Conservatives who have been critical of the social media platforms, including Twitter, for their supposed anti-conservative leaning.
The Texas Internet Censorship Law Was Passed By The Republicans
This GOP’s dislike of social media transformed into an all-out war during Trump’s reign when he was expelled from Twitter for inciting rioters during the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to hand onto power in Washington despite losing to Joe Biden.
The court did not go into the merits of the law or its constitutionality. Instead, it moved to allow the draconian law to take effect even as the courts decide on the merits of the case.
This ruling by the 3-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals was announced by one of the plaintiff groups. This court is the most conformist of the appeals court in America. The court is yet to release a written judgment that goes into the decision.
Google, Twitter, and other companies had sued last fall to block the regressive law. A judge from the district court had ruled in the group’s favor in December and stopped the law even as the lawsuit continued. It had then termed the law as prohibitively vague and said that the group’s right to regulate content was protected by the First Amendment.
