Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will defend HB 20, a Texas law that prevents major social media platforms from engaging in viewpoint discrimination and censorship, at the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) on February 26. Solicitor General Aaron Nielson will represent the State of Texas in the case known as NetChoice, LLC v. Paxton.
In 2021, Texas adopted a law forbidding the largest social media platforms from censoring users’ constitutionally protected speech. Two technology-based trade associations representing Google, Facebook, YouTube, X, and others sued the State to prevent enforcement of the law. The trade associations argue that these companies have a First Amendment right to discriminate against their users’ content. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Court upheld Texas’s law, noting that these companies do not have a right to prevent citizens from engaging in public discourse. The trade associations then appealed this ruling to SCOTUS.
“I look forward to defending our law which was adopted in response to a troubling trend of powerful companies unjustly silencing Americans they do not agree with,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Just like the postal service and telephone companies, social media platforms function as common carriers of ordinary citizens’ communications. States have always had the right to protect their citizens from corporations that would stifle liberty and infringe upon their ability to freely communicate with others.”
To read Texas’s brief submitted to the court, click here.