Texas has been fighting in court for the past year to defend a divisive law that would prohibit tech companies from controlling content based on beliefs. The Supreme Court narrowly struck down the law in May, but this didn’t appear to resolve the issue. According to The Washington Post, today’s decision by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the Texas statute overturned a lower Texas court’s decision to ban it.
The Post claims that the decision is “certainly setting up a Supreme Court battle over the future of Internet expression” because two circuit courts reached different conclusions. In the interim, the ruling of the 5th Circuit Court might tempt other states to pass similar laws.
Judge Andrew Stephen Oldham, a candidate for the Trump presidency, ruled alongside two other conservative justices that companies do not have the right to “muzzle expression” under the First Amendment.
In a comment to Ars, John Bergmayer, the legal director of Public Knowledge (a public interest group defending internet consumer rights), hinted that the ruling by the 5th Circuit Court might not be upheld.
According to Bergmayer, “The Fifth Circuit has disregarded decades of First Amendment and Supreme Court precedent—as well as contrary to recent Supreme Court orders—to reach a conclusion that appears to be politically driven and that, if not swiftly reversed, could have grave implications.
According to The Post, several officials of the tech sector disagree with the most recent ruling upholding the law and intend to consider their options for an appeal.
“The Texas law puts Americans at risk and mandates private businesses to broadcast hazardous content, ranging from foreign propaganda to terrorist incitement,” Schruers added.
According to Bergmayer, the decision may prevent platforms from effectively preventing the spread of hate speech, abuse, and false information. He claims that the decision implies that because a computer business is obstructing political speech, newspapers could be required to disseminate propaganda or email spam filters could become unlawful.
“Platforms need to be controlled in numerous ways, but decisions like this undermine serious efforts to safeguard online customers,” Bergmayer cautioned.
