Washington – The Computer & Communications Industry Association jointly filed an emergency brief Friday asking the U.S. Supreme Court for immediate action to prevent an unconstitutional Texas social media law from going into effect. The joint filing, submitted with co-plaintiff NetChoice, asks the Court to reinstate a lower court’s decision blocking enforcement of the Texas statute while it is being reviewed under the First Amendment. The request for relief comes after a federal appeals court issued a split 2-1 one-sentence order Wednesday that reversed the lower court’s order, allowing Texas to control what content appears on social media.
CCIA and NetChoice filed the lawsuit in September 2021, challenging the law on First Amendment grounds, and U.S. District Court Judge Robert Pitman blocked the law from taking effect on Dec. 1, 2021, finding it unconstitutional.
CCIA has advocated for free speech online for more than 25 years. This effort has included protecting the First Amendment right for citizens and businesses to exercise both the right to speak and not to be compelled to speak online.
The following can be attributed to CCIA President Matt Schruers:
“Texas politicians have put political point-scoring above the interests of Internet users. It would be dangerous to allow this social media law to infringe upon Constitutional protections for even a day. That is why we are asking the Supreme Court to take emergency action.”
“It is unconstitutional for the government to dictate what speech a private company must disseminate whether it be a newspaper, TV show or online platform. The First Amendment is crucial to our democracy and the Supreme Court must now protect that principle from government actors who are too willing to sacrifice it on the altar of partisan posturing.”
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