Federal court upholds Texas social media law, clearing way for users to sue over censorship

A federal appeals court on Friday evening upheld Texas’ social media law, ruling that residents can sue big tech companies for censoring political viewpoints.

The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court ruling that had blocked the law from taking effect.

“Today we reject the idea that corporations have a freewheeling First Amendment right to censor what people say,” Judge Andrew S. Oldham wrote in the majority opinion.

The ruling clears the way for Texans and the Texas Attorney General's office to file lawsuits against Big Tech giants like YouTube, Twitter and Facebook if they take down or censor certain political viewpoints.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton tweeted out after the victory: “I just secured a MASSIVE VICTORY for the Constitution & Free Speech in fed court: #BigTech CANNOT censor the political voices of ANY Texan!”

Two tech companies called NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association sued in attempt to block the law last year, citing that the ruling violated the social media companies' First Amendment rights. 

The president of Computer & Communications Industry Association Matt Schruers predicted yer case could go all the way to the Supreme Court. 

According to the New York Times, Schruers is “convinced that when the U.S. Supreme Court hears one of our cases, it will uphold the First Amendment rights of websites, platforms and apps.”