A federal appeals court on Wednesday blocked Texas' controversial censorship social media law from taking effect as tech companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Google's YouTube petition the Supreme Court to hear the case, reports CNN.
H.B. 20, which forbids large platforms from "censoring viewpoints" and allows Texas residents and the attorney general to sue social media companies over their content-moderating decisions, passed in September but has been contested since.
A trio of federal judges in early May paused a temporary injunction of the law, but the Supreme Court later in the month blocked it, 5-4, after tech trade groups asked the high court to intervene in an emergency stay.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in its order Wednesday granted NetChoice and Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) a motion to press pause on H.B. 20 while they ask the Supreme Court to take up the underlying case.
"This ruling means Texas's unconstitutional law will not be in force as the issue of government-compelled dissemination of speech makes its way to the Supreme Court. We are confident these laws will not stand," CCIA President Matt Schruers said in a statement.
Tech companies say the Texas law would force them to carry content like hate speech and extremist views that violate their content moderation policies.
"Because Texas H.B. 20 would bury the internet in vile content, we're relieved that it will remain enjoined until the case can be heard by the Supreme Court," Chris Marchese, NetChoice's counsel, said in a statement.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott hailed the law as a way to push back on censorship and social media companies' attempts to "silence conservative viewpoints."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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