Gov. Greg Abbott touts bill to stop Twitter and Facebook from banning Texans

Register for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to date with the most important news from Texas.

Describing “a dangerous movement” to “silence conservative ideas [and] religious beliefs, ”Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday touted a bill to crack down on perceived censorship of conservative voices by social media companies.

“They control the flow of information – and sometimes deny the flow of information,” the Republican governor said at a press conference in Tyler. “And they’re in the position where they choose what points of view will be allowed to be presented. Texas takes a stand against the political censorship of big tech. We’re not going to allow it in the Lone Star State.

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

“We have a handful of billionaires in San Francisco running these tech companies,” Hughes said. “That does not make them the guardians of free speech. But that’s what they want to be.

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

This would apply to anyone who lives, does business, or has social media followers in Texas. According to the proposal, a person who feels they have been wrongly excluded from a platform can file a complaint in court. The Texas Attorney General can also sue on behalf of a person. If a social media company does not comply, the bill states that the court can impose “daily penalties sufficient to ensure immediate compliance.”

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, who chairs the Texas Senate, identified the bill as one of his 31 priorities for this legislative session. Hughes introduced a similar bill in 2019 that won Senate approval but died in committee at State House.

Facebook and Twitter did not respond to requests for comment.

TechNet, an industry association, said removing content restrictions could pave the way for children’s exposure to “harmful content from malicious users online.”

“This bill not only recklessly encourages companies to leave objectionable content in the public eye, but also creates a culture that supports frivolous lawsuits against American companies,” said Servando Esparza, the group’s executive director for Texas and the Southwest, in a press release.

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

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

Rhetoric about conservative silencing escalated after the 2020 election, when platforms such as Facebook and Twitter suppressed former President Donald Trump’s account for inciting violence during the insurgency January 6 at the US Capitol.

Republican politicians have long targeted tech giants – accusing them of anti-conservative bias and silencing free speech, even though actions to ban members were often in response to credible evidence that communications incited violence.

Experts point out that the First Amendment – which protects free speech – only prohibits government censorship. This leaves private companies the choice of their own protocols.

“From a First Amendment perspective, social media companies are private players and are not subject to the First Amendment,” said Scot Powe, professor at the University of Texas Law School at the Texas Tribune in January. “It is therefore a question of constitutional law. They can be as biased as they like in any direction they want. “

In January, Twitter purged more than 70,000 accounts linked to the dangerous group of conspiracy theorists QAnon for connecting the movement to the attack on the US Capitol. Alex Jones, a conspiracy theorist who often espouses violent and sometimes racist views, has been kicked out of Facebook, Twitter and Spotify, among others. And Twitter in February definitely kicked off MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a fierce Trump ally who continually spread false claims about voter fraud.

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

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

Twitter in September 2020 targeted Democratic candidate Elizabeth Hernandez, who was contesting U.S. Republican Kevin Brady for her US House seat. The platform forced her to delete a tweet that broke its rules against voter suppression because it encouraged people to tell Trump supporters to vote on the wrong day.

Tech companies are also coming under scrutiny from Congress – on both sides of the aisle. Democrats and Republicans have set their sights in recent weeks on reforming or repealing Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act. This provision protects tech companies from liability for users of posted content. on their platforms.

During a congressional hearing last October, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told lawmakers that “Democrats often say we don’t remove enough content, and Republicans often say we remove too much” .

“Just because both sides are criticizing us doesn’t mean we’re doing things right, but it does mean that there are real disagreements about the limits of online discourse,” he said.

Abbott argued on Friday that the provision does not protect companies from lawsuits that could be brought under SB 12. Instead, he said it “circumvents” Section 230.

“We are making sure that these companies will be forced to comply with Senator Hughes ‘bill to ensure that the Texans’ conservative rhetoric is not quashed,” Abbott said.

Abbott’s office filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court saying states have the right to protect free speech, Hughes said.

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

Three U.S. Democratic senators, meanwhile, tabled a bill that would overhaul the provision. Under the SAFE TECH law, users can sue social media companies for content on their platforms that is threatening, harassing, discriminatory or otherwise abusive.

The state bill comes as politicians in Texas, including Abbott, have tried to get tech companies to relocate to the state from the expensive tech hub of Silicon Valley in California. Elon Musk, CEO of electric car company Tesla Motors, recently announced that he is moving to the state. In December, software company Oracle announced it was moving its headquarters from California to Austin.

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

Disclosure: Facebook and the University of Texas have financially supported the Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and sponsors. Financial support plays no role in the journalism of the Tribune. Find a full list here.