^TagGreg Abbott

Hand adding a new team member to a group. Business management concept

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
October 4, 2021

Categorized
Censorship, Social Media

Tagged
Big Tech, Briscoe Cain, Fantasia (Disney film), Greg Abbott, HB20 (Texas anti-censorship bill), Karl D. Stephan, Ryan Moore, Section 230, Texas (social media censorship issue)}

Can Texas Win Its Fight With Big Social Media Censorship?

_{Engineering prof Karl D. Stephan notes that, currently, if a user is de-platformed from a large site such as Facebook, there are, famously, not a lot of alternatives} _{News

October 4, 2021

6

Censorship, Social Media}

(This article by Karl D. Stephan originally appeared at Engineering Ethics Blog September 27, 2021, and is reprinted with permission.) On September 9, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed HB 20, a law designed to keep social media companies with more than 50 million subscribers from blocking users whose viewpoints the company disapproves of. Scheduled to take effect in December, the law has already attracted controversy and threats of lawsuits to keep it from going into effect. Currently, if a user is de-platformed from a large site such as Facebook, there are not a lot of alternatives. The overarching law in the US pertaining to such situations is Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act, which prevails if there is a conflict between Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Caitlin Cory
Date
September 15, 2021

Categorized
Censorship, Law, Social Media

Tagged
Big Tech, Clarence Thomas, First Amendment, Florida, Free speech, Greg Abbott, House Bill 20, NetChoice, Ron DeSantis, Senate Bill 7072, Texas}

Texas Governor Signs Law Curbing Big Tech Censorship

_{A similar law in Florida was halted by a federal judge. Will Texas's law face the same legal battle?} _{Caitlin Cory

September 15, 2021

4

Censorship, Law, Social Media}

Last Thursday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill 20 into law, legislation that would prohibit social media companies from banning users for their political beliefs and provide users with a legal remedy for unfair discriminatory behavior. The law is very similar to legislation passed earlier this year in Florida. Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 7072 into law at the end of May. Within days, technology trade groups had filed a lawsuit, and on June 30, a federal judge stopped the bill in its tracks with a preliminary injunction. For the bill’s proponents, the law’s intention is to protect the free speech rights of state citizens when using social media. “Freedom of speech is under attack in Texas,” said Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Caitlin Cory
Date
April 8, 2021

Categorized
Censorship, Law, Social Media

Tagged
Bryan Hughes, censorship, Clarence Thomas, Facebook, Greg Abbott, Section 230, Senate Bill 12, Supreme Court of the United States, Texas, Twitter}

Texas Senate Passes Bill Prohibiting Big Tech Censorship

_{The bill seeks to reign in Big Tech power and protect the principle of free speech for Texas citizens} _{Caitlin Cory

April 8, 2021

4

Censorship, Law, Social Media}

Last week, the Texas Senate passed a measure that would prohibit large social media companies like Facebook and Twitter from censoring political and religious viewpoints of Texas citizens. The bill now awaits a vote in the Texas House. Senate Bill 12 was introduced in March by State Senator Bryan Hughes. Titled “Relating to the censorship of users’ expressions by an interactive computer service,” the bill would not only prohibit censorship, but would require social media companies to disclose their moderation policies, publish reports about any blocked content, and create a legal route for people to appeal any censoring or deplatforming decisions. Social media companies currently enjoy legal protections against lawsuit under Section 230 of the U.S. Code, which on the Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Caitlin Cory
Date
March 9, 2021

Categorized
Censorship, Social Media

Tagged
Big Tech censorship, Bryan Hughes, Facebook, Greg Abbott, Publisher vs. carrier debate, Section 230, Texas and Big Tech, Twitter}

Texas Joins Fight Against Big Tech Censorship

_{Nearly two dozen states have proposed similar legislation in response to the increase of online censorship during the 2020 election period} _{Caitlin Cory

March 9, 2021

4

Censorship, Social Media}

Last week, Texas joined the growing pushback against Big Tech censorship when Governor Greg Abbott announced his support for a Texas bill that would prohibit the online censorship of political and religious viewpoints. “Silencing conservative views is un-American, it’s un-Texan and it’s about to be illegal in Texas,” Abbott wrote on Twitter last week ahead of a Friday press conference. Speaking alongside Abbott at the press conference was the bill’s sponsor, State Senator Bryan Hughes. Both figures made strong statements about free speech, the current threat of Big Tech, and their understanding of Texas’s role in this national struggle. “Texas is standing against big tech political censorship,” Abbott said. “We’re not going to allow it in the Lone Star State.” Read More ›