NetChoice, a prominent tech trade group, is suing Texas over its anti-censorship law.
NetChoice alleges that the Texas law violates the First Amendment because it allows the government to compel platforms to host speech it doesn’t agree with.
“Allowing HB 20 to take effect will inflict significant harm on Texans by threatening the safety of users, creators, and businesses that use these websites to reach audiences in a family-friendly way,” Steve DelBianco, President and CEO of NetChoice, said in a statement. “No American should ever be forced to navigate through harmful and offensive images, videos and posts.”
“Given that Florida’s similar law has been enjoined because of constitutional violations, Texas should repeal this flawed attempt to force private businesses to host political speech against their will,” he added.
NetChoice sued Florida earlier in the year over its new free speech law, arguing that the law violates the First Amendment.
Now, the group argues that the Texas law is “even more unconstitutional” than the Florida law.
“Not only does it compel private online businesses to host content they would otherwise remove or restrict, it applies 'viewpoint-based restrictions' to all users and specifically prevents websites from deciding based on the 'viewpoint' expressed in the post,” the statement continues. “In fact, it is for this reason HB 20 is even more unconstitutional than Florida’s law and cannot withstand First Amendment scrutiny.”
Politico has named NetChoice “tech's most aggressive lobbying presence in Washington D.C.,” according to the group’s website.
Association members of NetChoice include Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, Apple and more.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
