According to Reuters, lobbying groups representing Facebook, Twitter, Google, and other tech companies filed an emergency request with the US Supreme Court on Friday, requesting that the court revoke a Texas law prohibiting large social media platforms from banning users based on their political views.
The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals approved the state’s request for a stay of a district judge’s order blocking the law, and the state law took effect on Wednesday.
The law prohibits firms with more than 50 million monthly active users from removing individuals based on their political beliefs and demands them to publicly explain how they manage material.
The proposal was challenged in court by Internet advocacy groups NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association, and US District Judge Robert Pitman in Austin, Texas, issued a preliminary injunction in December.
Pitman had found that the law would harm social media companies’ free speech rights under the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
The tech groups, in their emergency request, asked the Supreme Court to “allow the District Court’s careful reasoning to remain in effect while an orderly appellate process plays out.”
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