Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/22-277_d18f.pdf
Page Number: 13

Cite as:  603 U. S. ____ (2024) 

7 

Opinion of the Court 

120.002(b) (West Cum. Supp. 2023).2  With several excep-
tions,  the  statute  prevents  platforms  from  “censor[ing]”  a 
user or a user’s expression based on viewpoint.  Tex. Civ. 
Prac.  &  Rem.  Code  Ann.  §§143A.002(a),  143A.006  (West 
Cum.  Supp.  2023).    That  ban  on  “censor[ing]”  covers  any
action to “block, ban, remove, deplatform, demonetize, de-
boost, restrict, deny equal access or visibility to, or other-
wise discriminate against expression.”  §143A.001(1).  The 
statute also requires that “concurrently with the removal” 
of user content, the platform shall “notify the user” and “ex-
plain the reason the content was removed.”  §120.103(a)(1).
The user gets a right of appeal, and the platform must ad-
dress  an  appeal  within  14  days.
  See  §§120.103(a)(2),
120.104. 

Soon  after  Florida  and  Texas  enacted  those  statutes, 
NetChoice LLC and the Computer & Communications In-
dustry Association (collectively, NetChoice)—trade associa-
tions  whose  members  include  Facebook  and  YouTube— 
brought facial First Amendment challenges against the two 
laws.  District courts in both States entered preliminary in-
junctions, halting the laws’ enforcement.  See 546 F. Supp.
3d 1082, 1096 (ND Fla. 2021); 573 F. Supp. 3d 1092, 1117 
(WD Tex. 2021).  Each court held that the suit before it is 
likely to succeed because the statute infringes on the con-
stitutionally protected “editorial judgment” of NetChoice’s
members about what  material they will display.  See 546 
F. Supp. 3d, at 1090; 573 F. Supp. 3d, at 1107. 

The  Eleventh  Circuit  upheld  the  injunction  of  Florida’s 
law, as to all provisions relevant here.  The court held that 
the State’s restrictions on content moderation trigger First
Amendment  scrutiny  under  this  Court’s  cases  protecting 

—————— 

2 The  statute  further  clarifies  that  it  does  not  cover  internet  service 
providers, email providers, and any online service, website, or app con-
sisting  “primarily  of  news,  sports, entertainment,  or  other  information 
or content that is not user generated but is preselected by the provider.”  
§120.001(1).