Gov. Greg Abbott Praises Bill to Stop Twitter and Facebook from Banning Texans

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Rejecting “a dangerous movement” to “silence conservative ideas” [and] religious beliefs, ”Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday praised a bill aimed at tackling the alleged censorship of conservative votes by social media companies.

“They control the flow of information – and sometimes deny the flow of information,” the Republican governor said at a news conference in Tyler. “And they are in the position of choosing which viewpoints to put forward. Texas is taking a stand against major political technological censorship. We’re not going to allow it in the Lone Star State. “

Abbott was joined by Senator Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, who sponsors the measure and chairs the powerful Senate Committee on State Affairs. Hughes said the bill would give Texans the right to recover their accounts when they are “ mistreated. ”

“We have a handful of billionaires in San Francisco who lead these technology companies,” said Hughes. “It doesn’t make them the gatekeepers of free speech. But that’s what they want to be. “

Senate Law 12 would prohibit social media companies – including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube – from blocking, banning, demonetizing, or otherwise discriminating against a user based on their position or their location in Texas.

It would apply to anyone who lives, does business, or has followers on social media in Texas. Under the proposal, a person who feels he has been wrongly banned from a platform can file a claim in court. The Texas Attorney General can also file a claim on behalf of an individual. If a social media company fails to comply, the bill provides that the court can “impose daily sentences sufficient to ensure immediate compliance.”

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, who chairs the Texas Senate, has identified the bill as one of his 31 priorities for this term. Hughes filed a similar bill in 2019 that won Senate approval but died on a committee at the state house.

Facebook and Twitter did not respond to requests for comment.

TechNet, an industry association, said removing content restrictions could open the way for children to be exposed to “harmful content from ill-intentioned users online.”

“This bill not only recklessly encourages companies to spot offensive content, but also creates a culture that supports frivolous lawsuits against US companies,” said Servando Esparza, the Texas and Southwest group’s executive director, in a statement.

Hughes said his law would only apply to political and religious speech.

“We’re not talking about obscene, lascivious obscenity or anything like that,” said Hughes.

Rhetoric about silencing conservatives intensified after the 2020 election, when platforms such as Facebook and Twitter removed former President Donald Trump’s account for inciting violence during the January 6 uprising at the Capitol.

Republican politicians have long targeted technology giants – accusing them of anti-conservative bias and silencing freedom of speech, even though the actions to ban members have often been in response to credible evidence that communication incites violence.

Experts point out that the First Amendment – which protects freedom of speech – only prohibits government censorship. That leaves private companies to choose their own protocols.

“From the perspective of the First Amendment, social media companies are private actors and are not covered by the First Amendment,” Scot Powe, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law, told The Texas Tribune in January. So it is a matter of constitutional law. They can be as biased as they want in any direction they choose. “

Twitter removed more than 70,000 accounts in January related to the dangerous group of conspiracy theorists QAnon because of the link between the movement and the attack on the Capitol. Alex Jones, a conspiracy theorist who often embraces violent and sometimes racist views, has been kicked out of the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Spotify. And Twitter permanently started MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell in February, a fierce Trump ally who constantly spread false claims about election fraud.

Closer to home, State Representative Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, got his Twitter account temporarily suspended in September 2019 when he tweeted “My AR is ready for you” to then Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke.

Cain’s tweet was in response to O’Rourke’s calls for a mandatory weapons buyback program.

Twitter in September 2020 targeted Democratic candidate Elizabeth Hernandez, who challenged Republican U.S. Representative Kevin Brady for his seat in the U.S. House. The platform forced her to delete a tweet violating voter suppression rules because it encouraged people to tell Trump supporters to vote on the wrong day.

Technology companies are also being scrutinized by Congress – from both sides of the aisle. Democrats and Republicans have in recent weeks set their sights on reforming or repealing Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. This provision protects technology companies from liability for content that users post on their platforms.

In a congressional hearing last October, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told lawmakers that “Democrats often say we’re not removing enough content, and Republicans often say we’re removing too much.”

“Just because both sides are criticizing us doesn’t mean we’re doing this right, but it does mean there are real disagreements about where the boundaries of online speech should be,” he said.

Abbott argued Friday that the provision does not protect companies from lawsuits that could be filed under SB 12. Instead, he said it was “wires around” Section 230.

“We ensure that these companies will be forced to comply with Senator Hughes ‘law to ensure that the Texans’ conservative speech is not canceled,” Abbott said.

Abbott’s office filed a letter with the U.S. Supreme Court stating that states have the right to protect freedom of speech, Hughes said.

Both President Joe Biden and his predecessor have expressed support for the revision of Section 230. Trump called for its complete repeal, as have a number of lawmakers within his party.

Three Democratic US senators, meanwhile, have introduced a bill that would revise the provision. Under the SAFE TECH Act, users can sue social media companies for content on their platforms that is threatening, intimidating, discriminatory or otherwise offensive.

The state bill comes as Texas politicians, including Abbott, have sought to entice tech companies to move to the state from California’s expensive Silicon Valley tech center. Elon Musk, the CEO of electric car company Tesla Motors, recently announced that he is moving to the state. Software company Oracle said in December that it was moving its headquarters from California to Austin.

SB 12 is scheduled for its first hearing before the State Affairs Commission on Monday.

Disclosure: Facebook and the University of Texas were financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a non-profit, unbiased news organization funded in part by donations from members, foundations, and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no part in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a full list here.