Supreme Court blocks Texas social media moderation ban

A Texas law that would have banned much social media moderation is once again on hold. In a 5-4 ruling handed down today, the Supreme Court vacated an earlier decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, meaning that HB 20 — which forbids banning, demonetizing, or downranking Texas users’ posts based on “viewpoint” — will be blocked while a lawsuit over its constitutionality proceeds. A lower court had already blocked the law in 2021 before the Fifth Circuit unblocked it this May.

NetChoice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), who filed suit to stop HB 20, petitioned the Supreme Court for a ruling earlier this month — responding to a surprising and unexplained ruling from the Fifth Circuit. Justice Samuel Alito initially reviewed the emergency request and referred it to the rest of the court. While Alito himself didn’t favor vacating that ruling, he was in the minority. Justices John Roberts, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Amy Coney Barrett, and Brett Kavanaugh voted in support of the decision, while Alito was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, and Elena Kagan.

Alito’s dissent describes the case as concerning “issues of great importance that will plainly merit this Court’s review,” namely “a groundbreaking Texas law that addresses the power of dominant social media corporations to shape public discussion of the important issues of the day.” It suggests that the Texas law, as well as a similar one from Florida, could occupy courts for years to come.