Texas HB 20

Texas House Bill 20 is a state law regulating social media content moderation practices, prohibiting large platforms from restricting or removing content based on user viewpoint.

Key Provisions

The law:

• Applies to platforms with over 50 million monthly active users in the United States
• Prohibits restricting or removing content based on user’s viewpoint or geographic location
• Requires a published acceptable use policy and a biannual transparency report covering the preceding six months, itemizing how the platform was alerted to illegal or potentially policy-violating content, the actions it took, the number of appeals, and the share of appeals that resulted in restoration
• Requires an accessible complaint system, a good faith effort to evaluate a notice of illegal content or activity within 48 hours excluding weekend hours, and, on a complaint about a removal, review and notice of the determination no later than the 14th day excluding Saturdays and Sundays after the complaint is received
• Requires a platform removing content under its acceptable use policy to notify the user, explain the reason, and allow an appeal
• Creates private right of action for affected users

Legal Challenges

The law has faced litigation:

• Preliminarily enjoined by a federal district court in December 2021
• The 5th Circuit stayed that injunction in May 2022; the Supreme Court vacated the stay on May 31, 2022
• In September 2022, the 5th Circuit vacated the preliminary injunction, holding that the platforms’ content-moderation activities were not protected speech — the opposite of the 11th Circuit’s conclusion about Florida’s similar law
• In Moody v. NetChoice (July 1, 2024), the Supreme Court vacated the 5th Circuit’s judgment and remanded, holding that neither circuit had properly analyzed the facial First Amendment challenges across the laws’ full range of applications. The Court did not decide whether HB 20 is constitutional.
• On remand in November 2024, the 5th Circuit returned the case to the district court for discovery and fact-finding on which platforms, functions, and activities the law covers

First Amendment Questions

The law raises legal questions about:

• Whether platforms have First Amendment rights to moderate content
• State power to regulate online speech platforms
• Treating social media as common carriers
• Balance between platform rights and user speech

Impact on Platform Operations

• Uncertainty about content moderation practices in Texas
• Potential for different moderation rules by state
• Questions about technical implementation of geo-specific policies
• Challenges to platform terms of service enforcement