Supreme Court Halts Texas Law on Social Media Content Moderation

The US Supreme Court blocked a Texas law that critics say would fundamentally transform Twitter Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook by requiring them to allow hate speech and extremism.

Over four dissents, the justices put the measure on hold while a constitutional challenge goes forward in a lower court, granting a request from tech groups that represent the platforms. {snip}

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The Texas law bars social media platforms with more than 50 million users from discriminating on the basis of viewpoint. Texas Governor Greg Abbott and other Republicans say the law is needed to protect conservative voices from being silenced.

The measure gives Texas residents “equal access to the modern public square and the many benefits resulting from free and open dialogue in that square,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argued in court papers. He said platforms could still bar broad categories of content, including pornography and spam.

The tech groups, which also represent Alphabet Inc.’s Google, say the measure would unconstitutionally bar platforms from removing neo-Nazi and Ku Klux Klan screeds or Russian propaganda about its invasion of Ukraine.

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