The bill’s sponsors said it was necessary to prevent “West Coast oligarchs” from silencing “conservative viewpoints and ideas.”
posts on their own websites—with, for instance, a warning that they contain violence, vulgarity, or disinformation. It obligates companies to turn over a massive amount of information to the state about their algorithms, curation, and account suspension. And one baffling provisionemail service providers’ ability to block spam, allowing users to collect $25,000 for each day that their provider impedes “the transmission of an unsolicited or commercial electronic mail message.
What would the internet look like in Texas if corporations implemented these policies? In addition to a sudden surge of spam in Texans’ inboxes, social media would become unusable. Major platforms would be inundated with hate: YouTube could not remove videos by neo-Nazis and Klansmen promoting racism; Twitter could not take down ISIS fighters’ terrorist advocacy; Facebook could not limit Russian propaganda against Ukraine.
. So H.B. 20 would forbid platforms from removing, demoting, or condemning all but the most extreme, graphic, and threatening speech. Even then, each instance of content moderation might subject companies to a lawsuit, incentivizing a totally hands-off approach.Other aspects of the law all but compel companies to cease editorial control over their own products.
companies to assess complaints of “illegal content” within 48 hours, so they cannot adopt a true laissez-faire policy either.The only way out of this mess, then, would be for social media companies to cease all operations in Texas. But H.B. 20 orders them to continue providing their services in Texas. So there is truly no escape—except the courts.Luckily for social media platforms, constitutional law is entirely on their side.
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