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State lawmakers debate bill that would allow ‘censorship’ lawsuits against social media companies

However, several witnesses at the hearing said that state lawmakers are on shaky legal ground.

“How do you figure that Texas can somehow force Facebook, Twitter and Youtube to carry speech that’s against their community guidelines?” asked Steve DelBianco, president and CEO of the trade association NetChoice.

DelBianco said that social media companies are private businesses and that the First Amendment only protects against government censorship.

“Your bill will be set aside by court, most likely, at which point you will have proven that states are powerless to force social media to carry speech they don’t want to carry,” he said.