Supreme Court hears challenge to Texas social-media law; debate centers on viewpoint rules, CDA 230 and common-carrier analogy

The Supreme Court on Dec. 5 heard argument in NetChoice v. Paxton (No. 22555), a challenge to Texas's social-media statute that petitioners say would strip platforms of protected editorial judgment and impose burdensome individualized-explanation and appeal requirements.

Mister Clement, counsel for the platforms, told the justices Texas's definition of "social media platforms" excludes many websites and that the statute's ban on viewpoint discrimination would be unconstitutional on its face. "If you have to be viewpoint neutral," he told the Court, "that means that if you have materials that are involved in suicide prevention, you also have to have materials that advocate suicide promotion." Clement argued the law's disclosure and appeal obligations would be especially onerous for large services, saying the record shows YouTube testimony that the new rules could be "a hundred times more burdensome" than existing processes.

Clement also rejected Texas's attempt to analogize platforms to common carriers, arguing Congress's text and the functional reality of modern services show platforms engage in expressive dissemination rather than merely transmitting messages point-to-point.…