White House Urges Supreme Court to Consider Challenge Against Texas Social Media Law

The White House has submitted a request to the Supreme Court, asking for the overturning of a lower court’s decision to uphold a controversial social media law in Texas.

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, in a brief submitted on Monday, argued that conflicting decisions from circuit courts regarding similar laws in Texas and Florida warrant review by the Supreme Court.

The laws, which were passed by GOP-led states, aim to prohibit social media companies from banning users based on their political views. Essentially, these laws limit the ability of companies to moderate content and users, even if they violate the website’s terms and conditions.

Prelogar asserts that the Fifth Circuit court’s decision to uphold the Texas law should be reversed, emphasizing that these companies have First Amendment protections that allow them to carry out content moderation as they choose.

“The platforms’ content moderation activities are protected by the First Amendment, and the content moderation and individualized explanation requirements impose an impermissible burden on these protected activities,” she stated.

Unlike the Fifth Circuit, the Eleventh Circuit has ruled to block Florida’s similar law from taking effect.

With conflicting opinions from the circuit courts, these cases are now primed to be heard by the Supreme Court. Two tech industry groups, the Computer and Communications Association (CCIA) and NetChoice, are leading the fight against these laws and have requested the Supreme Court’s intervention.

In response to the brief, CCIA President Matt Schruers commented, “We are pleased to see the Solicitor General recognize the importance of the First Amendment issues raised by these state laws.”

“This is exactly the type of case we would expect the Supreme Court to take up, as it involves a crucial Constitutional issue and contradictory rulings from appellate courts,” added Schruers.

In a statement, NetChoice’s director of litigation, Chris Marchese, mentioned that the brief “underscores” the unconstitutionality of both laws and urges the Court to review their cases.

However, Prelogar did not fully endorse the tech industry’s request. She stated that the Court should not consider challenges to provisions of the law that require tech companies to disclose their content moderation rules.

The Eleventh Circuit court allowed these disclosure provisions of Florida’s law to stand, and Prelogar noted that these general disclosure provisions were not the main focus of the litigation.