Biden Administration Argues Texas and Florida Anti-Censorship Laws are a First Amendment Violation

If you’re tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Presented as an effort to safeguard speech rights, the Biden administration has called on the Supreme Court to dismantle controversial segments of the anti-censorship social media laws ratified in Florida and Texas. We obtained a copy of the filing for you here. (President Biden is also using the argument that banning his administration from asking platforms to remove speech is a First Amendment violation.) The laws in question restrict the autonomy of leading social media platforms by preventing them from censoring citizens speech and discriminating on the basis of political viewpoint. Both Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Texas Governor Greg Abbott staunchly support these laws as a means of protecting voices from being suppressed. Governor DeSantis, at the law signing in May 2021, criticized Big Tech’s bias for Silicon Valley ideology and emphasized the need for accountability. The Texas law, featuring a provision prohibiting discrimination based on viewpoints, incorporates several exceptions, permitting platforms to ban content promoting violence, criminal behavior, child exploitation, and harassment of sexual-abuse survivors and more. The law presses social media platforms to adopt user complaint procedures, disclose content and data management practices, and publish a comprehensive biannual transparency report. The legislation only applies to platforms attracting over 50 million monthly users. The Florida law has a similar scope and, in addition, mandates a detailed justification for each content moderation. The legislation also forbids the banning of political contenders or “journalistic…Biden Administration Argues Texas and Florida Anti-Censorship Laws are a First Amendment Violation