Supreme Court blocks Texas' controversial social media law
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
The Supreme Court has voted 5-4 to block Texas' social media censorship law, a major boon for tech companies who have been fighting against content moderation laws that would fundamentally change how they do business.
Why it matters: Conservative states have launched a legal war on social media companies in an effort to stem what they see as a wave of censorship, but this decision, like other recent rulings, suggests they face an uphill climb in court.
What's happening: The Supreme Court's decision means that Texas can't enforce a new law that would allow Texans and the state's attorney general to sue tech giants like Meta and YouTube over their content moderation policies.
- The court's order isn't a final ruling on the merits of Texas' law, but when the courts freeze a particular law or policy, it's often a sign the measure faces a difficult road on the merits.
- It comes just a few days after a federal appeals court ruled against a similar law in Florida.
Catch up quick: Texas passed its law last September, and opponents immediately challenged it in federal court, winning an injunction suspending it from going into effect.
- But earlier this month, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the law could go into effect immediately.
- Opponents appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court and won.
Details: Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Brett Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts voted to reinstate the lower court's injunction and block the law from taking effect.
- Justices Neil Gorsuch, Elena Kagan, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas voted against doing so.
- Alito wrote a dissent, arguing, "It is not at all obvious how our existing precedents, which predate the age of the internet, should apply to large social media companies."
What's next: The case returns to district court, where arguments on both sides will be made on the merits.
