Watchdog Supports Lawsuit Against Texas Social Media Bill

For Immediate Release                                                                                              Contact: Courtney Mattison   (202-525-7492)

September 22, 2021                                                                                                                     

 Washington, D.C. – The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA), a nonprofit, nonpartisan taxpayer and consumer advocacy organization, supports a lawsuit filed today against the State of Texas regarding the state’s new social media law. The law violates the First Amendment by severely limiting the ability for online services to moderate their digital property as they see fit. Defending the unconstitutional law is expected to cost Texas taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.

TPA Vice President of Policy Patrick Hedger offered the following comments:

“The Texas social media law copies the homework of Florida’s law. The problem is that Florida received an “F” for their work. Florida’s social media law forcing companies to host speech against their fundamental First Amendment rights of speech and association has already been laughed out of court. Texas’s law will quickly meet a similar fate. The Texas Attorney General’s office can save Texans time, money, and embarrassment by not appealing the inevitable ruling against this absurdly unconstitutional legislation. It’s hard to imagine Ken Paxton, currently under FBI investigation for corruption, doing the right thing. Given that Paxton’s office requested more than $40 million in taxpayer money to pursue a foolhardy lawsuit against a major tech company, it’s reasonable to expect this reckless law to cost Texans just as much.

“It’s tragic that Texas taxpayers will have to bear the cost of this nonsense, but getting patently unconstitutional laws off the books is of critical importance to all citizens lest setting a precedent for further government overreach and abuse.”

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Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to educating the public through the research, analysis and dissemination of information on the government’s effects on the economy.