Texas Senate passes bill to prevent social media censorship

By Alyssa Wilson Published: April 5, 2021

Texas Senate passes bill to prevent social media censorship

Facebook is displayed on Apple's App Store in Chicago, Ill. The social media company said Thursday, April 16, 2020, it is now going to let users know if they liked, reacted or commented on posts with harmful misinformation about the coronavirus that moderators later removed. Facebook says it will also direct people who engaged with those posts to information about virus myths debunked by the World Health Organization. (AP Photo/Amr Alfiky, File)

The Texas Senate passed a bill blocking social media platforms from banning residents based on their political views.

Senate Bill 12 passed in the overnight hours Thursday morning, according to the Texas Tribune.

The bill now heads to the state House where two other bills on the topic have not moved.

We congratulate @SenBryanHughes on the passage of SB 12, the “Freedom from Censorship” Act. Every Texan deserves the right to free speech, free from Silicon Valley censorship. Silencing conservative speech and values will not be tolerated by the Texas Senate. #txlege pic.twitter.com/7hDGkg0Y3j

— Texas Senate GOP (@TexasSenateGOP) March 31, 2021

Senator Bryan Hughes posted a video on Twitter talking about the passing of the bill along with a bill regarding elections.

Hughes called Bill 12 a bill that “protects Texans from censorship by social media companies.”

After several hours of debate, Senate Bill 7 (Election Integrity) and Senate Bill 12 (Social Media Censorship) fully passed the Texas Senate early this morning. #txlege #SB12 #SB7 @Scott_SanfordTX @BriscoeCain pic.twitter.com/HdQPc2FBy7

— Senator Bryan Hughes (@SenBryanHughes) April 1, 2021

According to The Hill, the bill bans platforms from censoring a user based on their views or geographical location. It also requires social media companies to publicly disclose information about how they target, promote and moderate content.

Under Bill 12, the state attorney general can bring action against platforms that violate the law.

The bill applies to any social media platform with more than 100 million active users in a calendar month.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott supports the bill.

In a statement released on his website, he said:

“Social media sites have become our modern day public squares where information should be able to flow freely, but social media companies are now acting as judge and jury on determining what viewpoints are valid,” said Governor Abbott. “America was built on freedom of speech and healthy public debate, and efforts to silence conservative viewpoints on social media are wrong and weaken public discourse. I thank Senator Hughes for offering SB 12 to help protect Texans from being wrongfully censored on social media for voicing their political or religious viewpoints. With SB 12, Senator Hughes is taking a stand against Big Tech’s political censorship and protecting Texans’ right to freedom of expression. I look forward to working with Senator Hughes to sign this bill into law and protect free speech in Texas.”