Federal court upholds law banning tech companies from censoring viewpoints
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For the past year, Texas has been fighting in court to uphold a controversial law that would ban tech companies from content moderation based on viewpoints. In May, the Supreme Court narrowly blocked the law, but this seemed to do little to settle the matter. Today, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower Texas court's decision to block the law, ruling instead that the Texas law be upheld, The Washington Post reported.
According to the Post, because two circuit courts arrived at differing opinions, the ruling is "likely setting up a Supreme Court showdown over the future of online speech." In the meantime, the 5th Circuit Court's opinion could make it tempting for other states to pass similar laws.
Trump-nominated Judge Andrew Stephen Oldham joined two other conservative judges in ruling that the First Amendment doesn't grant protections for corporations to "muzzle speech."