September 9, 2021 | Austin, Texas
|
Press release
Governor Greg Abbott today enacted House Bill 20, which protects Texans from unlawful censorship on social media platforms. The governor was accompanied by Senators Bryan Hughes and Rep. Briscoe Cain, drafters of the bill, and Senators Charles Perry, Dawn Buckingham and Angela Paxton to sign the bill. The governor named the social media censorship law as an item on the agenda for the second special session of the legislature in August.
« We will always defend freedom of expression in Texas, which is why I am proud to sign House Bill 20 to protect the first rights of amendment in the Lone Star State, » said Governor Abbott. “Social media websites have become our modern public space. It’s a place for healthy public debate, where information should be free to flow – but there is a dangerous move by social media companies to silence conservative viewpoints and ideas. That’s wrong. ”And we won’t allow it in Texas. I thank Senator Bryan Hughes, Rep. Briscoe Cain, and the Texas Legislature for ensuring that House Bill 20 reached my desk during the second special session. «
House Bill 20 prevents social media companies with more than 50 million monthly users from banning users simply because of their political views. The law also requires several consumer protection disclosures and processes related to content management on the social media sites to which the bill applies. These websites must disclose their content management and moderation policies and have a complaint and appeal process for content they remove, providing a reason for the removal and reviewing their decision. You must also review and remove illegal content within 48 hours. House Bill 20 also prohibits email service providers from hindering the transmission of email messages based on content.
Keywords:
