5th Circuit blocks Texas law requiring websites to filter "harmful" speech

Texas cannot enforce a law's requirement that websites block minors from seeing harmful speech, the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled on Friday.

Big Tech lobby groups challenged the Texas "law’s requirement that certain social media-based 'digital service providers' (DSPs) monitor and filter content accessible to known minors to prevent exposure to several categories of potentially harmful speech," judges wrote.

In a 2-1 ruling in favor of the tech groups' challenge, judges said the monitoring and filtering requirement is preempted by Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act of 1996.

The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and NetChoice challenged portions of the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act ( SCOPE Act ), which applies to websites and online applications that collect or process personally identifying information.

The tech groups won a preliminary injunction from a district court. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed to the 5th Circuit but wasn't able to convince judges to reverse the injunction that prevents enforcement of the monitoring and filtering rules.

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  5th Circuit blocks Texas law requiring websites to filter "harmful" speech