5th Circuit blocks Texas law requiring websites to filter "harmful" speech
2 days ago
- The US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled that Texas cannot enforce a law requiring websites to block minors from harmful speech.
- The law's monitoring and filtering requirement was preempted by Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act.
- Tech groups CCIA and NetChoice challenged the Texas SCOPE Act and won a preliminary injunction, which the 5th Circuit upheld.
- The court found the requirement would have forced websites to censor broad, vaguely defined categories of lawful speech.
- NetChoice argued that parents, not the government, are best positioned to decide what is appropriate for their families.