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Message to online socials: don’t mess with Texas.
The state made it unlawful last week for social media companies to exclude users based “solely on their political views.”
Independent voices and particularly liberty-minded Americans have increasingly faced bans and suppression by Facebook, Twitter, and a handful of social media platforms that control most of online speech.
The Trends Journal has covered the political manipulation of big tech extensively in articles including:
- “Media censorship: A vicious trend to gag independent media” (26 Oct 2018)
- “FACEBOOK PULLS PLUG ON ‘STOP THE STEAL’ GROUP” (10 Nov 2020)
- “ALL THE PRESIDENT’S APPS: TECH COUP 2021” (19 Jan 2021)
- “CONGRESS PRESSURES BIG TECH TO CENSOR EVEN MORE” (March 2021)
- “FACEBOOK REMOVES VACCINE VICTIMS PAGE” (27 Apr 2021)
…and many others.
Perhaps the most damning censorship in recent months was YouTube banning Senator Rand Paul for criticizing the veracity of COVID czar Dr. Anthony Fauci (see “YOUTUBE BANS SEN. RAND PAUL FOR QUESTIONING FAUCI,” 17 Aug 2021).
Fauci is currently under fire for Senate testimony where he denied government funding of controversial “gain of function” virus experiments, after more recent documentation has shown otherwise.
The media literally banned scientists, journalists and others who were onto the funding story as far back as March of 2020.
At the bill signing on Thursday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott noted “Social media websites have become our modern-day public square. “They are a place for healthy public debate where information should be able to flow freely—but there is a dangerous movement by social media companies to silence conservative viewpoints and ideas.”
The law only applies to the very largest social media companies, with user bases of 50 million or more.