AUSTIN – Attorney General Paxton led a 10-state coalition that filed an amicus brief in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in support of Florida’s law that regulates censorship on Big Tech platforms by requiring them to apply their content-moderation practices in a consistent manner and to provide disclosures to affected users.
The brief explains why relevant provisions of Florida’s law are fully compatible with the First Amendment, which guarantees Americans’ right to freedom of speech, expression, and political beliefs.
“The regulation of big tech censorship will inevitably suppress the ideas and beliefs of millions of Americans,” said Attorney General Ken Paxton. “I will defend the First Amendment and ensure that conservative voices have the right to be heard. Big Tech does not have the authority to police the expressions of people whose political viewpoint they simply disagree with.”
Governor Abbott recently signed Texas’ House Bill 20 – similar to Florida’s law – in that it seeks to regulate “Big Tech.” H.B. 20 allows any resident in Texas banned from social media for their political beliefs to sue the social media platform that censored them. The attorney general would be able to sue on behalf of a Texas resident or residents that were banned or blocked by a platform due to discrimination based on their political views.