NetChoice v. Paxton
21-51178
Jurisdiction
United States
Date
Sep 16, 2022
Status
Appeal Decided
Source
courtlistener
Court
Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Date Filed
Sep 16, 2022
Relevance
85%
Summary
NetChoice challenges Texas law regulating social media platforms' content moderation practices on First Amendment and Section 230 grounds.
Holding
The Fifth Circuit reversed the district court's preliminary injunction, holding that Texas HB 20's content moderation restrictions likely do not violate the First Amendment because social media platforms' algorithmic curation may not constitute protected editorial discretion when hosting user-generated content. The court found that large social media platforms function more like common carriers subject to regulation rather than traditional publishers exercising editorial judgment.
Key Facts
Texas HB 20 prohibits social media platforms with 50+ million users from removing content based on viewpoint and requires disclosure of content moderation policies. This decision conflicts with the Eleventh Circuit's ruling in NetChoice v. Moody (finding similar Florida law unconstitutional), creating a circuit split that led to Supreme Court review. The case has major implications for Section 230 immunity, platform content moderation authority, and whether social media companies have First Amendment rights to curate user speech on their services.