US appeals court blocks part of Texas children's online safety law

A divided federal appeals court has partially blocked a Texas law aimed at protecting children from online harms, dealing a blow to state efforts to regulate social media content. The ruling specifically targets a provision requiring platforms to monitor and filter content that "promotes, glorifies, or facilitates" self-harm, suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, stalking, bullying, and sexual abuse.

In a 2-1 decision, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans determined that Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act, which broadly shields the tech industry from liability for third-party content, preempts the Texas law's monitoring and filtering requirement. This federal protection, often referred to as a "get-out-of-jail-free card," has long been a point of contention between states and social media companies.

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Section 230 protects social media companies from civil liability for user content, despite the specter it might be a “get-out-of-jail-free card” immunizing the industry from "all but the most egregious consequences" of how their products function.

The decision represents a victory for industry groups like the Computer & Communications Industry Association and NetChoice, whose members include major tech companies such as Google, Amazon, and Meta Platforms. They argued that the Texas law would force platforms to act as state censors.

However, the appeals court did uphold another part of the Texas law: an age-verification requirement. The court also found that a nonprofit group, Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, lacked the legal standing to challenge the law. While one judge dissented, arguing the law regulated curation rather than publication, the majority's decision significantly curtails the scope of Texas's Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act, also known as the SCOPE Act.

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The government has no business deciding what they can read, watch and say online.