Abbott signs Hughes’ social media censorship protection bill into law

AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill partially authored by Sen. Bryan Hughes made to protect Texans from wrongful censorship on social media. According to our news partner KETK, the legislation requires large social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram and YouTube to make regular reports of removed content, create a complaint system and disclose their content regulation procedures. Abbott was joined at the signing by Hughes and Rep. Briscoe Cain, who are the authors of the bill. Sen. Charles Perry, Sen. Dawn Buckingham and Sen. Angela Paxton were also present. Specifically, the bill prevents social media companies with more than 50 million monthly users from banning users based on their political viewpoints.

It also requires sites to disclose their content management and moderation policies and implement a complaint and appeals process for content they remove, providing a reason for the removal and a review of their decision. They now must also review and remove illegal content within 48 hours. The bill also prohibits email service providers from impeding the transmission of email messages based on content.