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House Bill 20 (2nd C.S.) |
House Author: Cain et al. |
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Effective: 12-2-21 |
Senate Sponsor: Hughes et al. |
House Bill 20 amends the Business & Commerce Code and Civil Practice and Remedies Code to provide protections from censorship and other interference with digital expression by regulating certain social media platforms with respect to the management and removal of user content and by prohibiting email service providers from impeding email messages based on the message's content, with certain exceptions.
Among other provisions, House Bill 20 does the following to protect against such censorship or other interference:
· requires a social media platform to publicly disclose accurate information regarding its content management, data management, and business practices; publish an acceptable use policy and a biannual transparency report regarding illegal activity and illegal and potentially policy‑violating content and actions taken with respect to such activity or content; and provide an easily accessible complaint system for users to submit complaints, including complaints regarding illegal content or activity or a decision made by the platform to remove content posted by the user;
· requires a social media platform that removes certain content based on a violation of its acceptable use policy to notify the user who provided the content and allow the user to appeal the platform's decision to remove the content;
· prohibits a social media platform from censoring a user, a user's expression, or a user's ability to receive the expression of another person based on the user's or another person's viewpoint or location in any part of Texas, regardless of the medium through which the viewpoint in question is expressed; and
· authorizes the attorney general or a user on a social media platform to bring an action against the platform for an applicable violation of the bill's provisions.
These protections apply with respect to a social media platform that functionally has more than 50 million active users in the United States in a calendar month and to a user who resides in Texas, does business in Texas, or shares or receives social media platform content or other expression in Texas.