TEXAS – Gov. Greg Abbott joined Sen. Bryan Hughes on Thursday to discuss Senate Bill 12 (SB12), which prohibits social media companies from “censoring Texans based on viewpoints they express”.
“Too many social media sites silence conservative speech and ideas, and trample free speech. It’s un-American, un-Texan, and soon to be illegal,” Abbott wrote in a tweet.
During the news conference held in Tyler, Texas, Abbott stressed the importance of the First Amendment and Texans’ right to freedom of speech.
“We need to recognize that when we see the First Amendment under assault by social media companies, it is not going to be tolerated in Texas,” Abbott said.
Facebook and Twitter were two of the main platforms Abbott addressed on Friday. He said both Facebook and Twitter have evolved into a modern-day square where people go to talk about their political views, but he also believes Facebook and Twitter are controlling the flow of information and denying certain flows of information.
“They are ... in the position where they are choosing which viewpoints are going to be allowed to be presented. Texas is taking a stand against big tech companies’ censorship. We are not going to allow it in the Lone Star state,” Abbott added.
Senate Bill 12 will not only prohibit social media companies from censoring Texans’ viewpoints, but it will also allow Texans to file a lawsuit if they believe they were wrongfully blocked from a social media site for expressing their opinions.
“The United States of America was built on freedom of speech and healthy public debate. Big tech efforts to silence conservative viewpoints is un-American, un-Texan, and is unacceptable and pretty soon is going to be against the law in the state of Texas,” Abbott said.
“This bill is a distraction and waste of time,” said Kate Huddleston, an attorney for the ACLU of Texas.
Huddleston said the top priority for the legislature should be the fallout from the winter storm and the ongoing pandemic.
“This legislation faces several constitutional problems. The government cannot force social media platforms to distribute other parties speech and it can’t tell social media platforms what to publish,” Huddleston said.
We asked many Houstonians about the idea.
“My gut level is that I don’t think we should be involved in it from the state level. I don’t think that’s the governor’s responsibility,” Margy Rennard said.
“I believe that there are some things that should be censored but for us to be in a free country we should be able to post whatever we want,” Frekiva Bailey said.
Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa issued a statement in response to the press conference on SB 12:
“Governor Abbott and his allies are attempting to distract from the fact that Texans are dead because of his catastrophic failure in leadership. Instead of holding a press conference honoring Texans who lost their lives and supporting their families, or working with state and local leaders to stop the spread of COVID-19, he is wasting energy and time on social media policies. It’s clear that his priorities are not in line with the most pressing needs of the residents of the great state of Texas.”