Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who this month signed a bill that aims to restrict the editorial discretion of social media platforms, says the new law "Protects Texans from wrongful censorship" and thereby upholds their First Amendment rights.
Whether he is sincerely mistaken or cynically catering to his party's base, H.B. 20 reflects widespread confusion among conservatives about what the First Amendment requires and allows.
Would that constitute a violation of conservatives' First Amendment rights, as Abbott claims? No, since the First Amendment applies to the government and imposes no constraints on private parties.
To the contrary, the First Amendment guarantees a private publisher's right to exercise editorial discretion.
While there will always be disagreement about the formulation and enforcement of those rules, H.B. 20 replaces private discretion with government dictates.
In addition to the First Amendment, H.B. 20 flouts 47 U.S. Code 230, which bars states from imposing civil liability on a website for "Any action voluntarily taken in good faith to restrict access to or availability of material" it deems "Objectionable, whether or not such material is constitutionally protected." H.B. 20 implicitly acknowledges that barrier, saying it does not authorize "Damages or other legal remedies to the extent the social media platform is protected from those remedies under federal law" - a proviso that effectively nullifies its ban on "Censorship."
In June, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against a similar Florida law after concluding that it probably violated the First Amendment and Section 230.
https://townhall.com/columnists/jacobsullum/2021/09/29/draft-n2596624
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