SCOTUS Sides With Censorship

I am a libertarian, I am usually completely against government control of business…

That being said, we have a problem, a massive Orwellian problem. Big tech effectively controls the public forum, and as we have seen over the last 2 years the consequences of that have been disastrous.

These people shape the very reality that we as human beings experience and perhaps no individual or group of people should wield such incredible power…

Texas Governor Greg Abbott thought the same thing when we signed HB-20, a bill that made it illegal for big tech platforms to censor based on political affiliation.

Now we are seeing the Supreme Court issue an injunction temporarily halting the bill:

NEW: Supreme Court rules for tech companies in the legal battle over Texas's social media law, overturning (for now) a lower court decision that would've let the law take effect as the legal challenge plays out.

From @Arianedevogue and me: https://t.co/PBHthXyB1R pic.twitter.com/QOVcqPAYhL

— Brian Fung (@b_fung) May 31, 2022

https://twitter.com/CommieCascadia/status/1531784218057261057

The Epoch Times confirmed:

The Supreme Court voted 5-4 late on May 31 to temporarily block a Texas law that prevents social media platforms from censoring users based on their political views.

To be clear, the headline here is *not* the dissent; it’s that Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Kavanaugh, and Justice Barrett *all* voted to block HB20.

That’s a pretty powerful sign of where #SCOTUS is heading on this case—and issue—even if the dissent’s analysis is … alarming. https://t.co/3BN1t9KO3C

— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) May 31, 2022

Texas' #SocialMedia law blocked for now: "Texas Republicans pushed HB 20 last year in the Legislature, arguing that it was needed to counter social media platforms that improperly target conservative leaders and their messages"#TxPolitics #TxLege #Facebook #Twitter #tech #SCOTUS https://t.co/P7KE5NH5H8

— David Forrest (@NewsForrest) May 31, 2022

Politico added:

Chief Justice John Roberts, along with Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett granted the stay, which overturned the 5th Circuit ruling lifting an earlier injunction from a Texas district court.

The district court has not yet ruled on the underlying merits and constitutionality of the case.

Justice Samuel Alito wrote a dissent that was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch. While Justice Elena Kagan also dissented, she didn’t join Alito’s dissent nor did she explain her own reasoning.