A federal judge in Texas has allowed the state to seek documents from social media giants Facebook, Twitter, and Google.
A federal judge will allow Texas to seek internal documents from social-media companies regarding how they moderate content, as the state defends a new law restricting when platforms can suspend users.
The ruling Friday by U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman in Austin means Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is free to seek limited discovery from members of two prominent trade groups that sued to block the controversial statute, including Twitter Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google, and Facebook Inc.
The ruling allows Paxton to seek documents and depose employees at members of NetChoice and Computer & Communications Industry Association — but only if they’ll be impacted by the law barring platforms from suspending users over their political views. The statute, which applies to social-media companies with more than 50 million monthly users, takes effect December 2.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott reported on the judge’s decision.
Texas passed a law prohibiting Facebook, Twitter & Google from removing conservative viewpoints.
They sued us.
Now, a federal judge will let Texas seek internal documents about how they moderate content.
It’s about to get interesting.https://t.co/zYzf9HYqz8 via @technology
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) October 23, 2021
Three of the FAANG companies are involved in the lawsuit: Facebook, Twitter, and Google. These firms along with Amazon and Netflix are now known as FAANG.
