Supreme Court Blocks Texas Law Intended to Restrict Social Media Site Blocking

Under the law, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and other sites would be unable to block content based on its viewpoint

Published May 31, 2022

FILE - The U.S. Supreme Court building is shown, May 4, 2022 in Washington. — AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File

The Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked a Texas law that would restrict the ability of popular social media companies to control the content of their own sites.

Under the law, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and other sites would be unable to block content based on its viewpoint. Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, said the law was a response to “a dangerous movement by social media companies to silence conservative viewpoints and ideas.”

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But two big tech trade groups said it was an attempt to censor the content of private social media sites. The state could no more dictate the content of Twitter than it could tell newspapers what they can publish, their lawyers told the Supreme Court.

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