A federal appeals court ruled 2–1 on July 24 that federal law overrides a key part of a Texas social media law that requires platforms to monitor and filter material deemed harmful to minors.
A provision in the state law required digital service providers to come up with a strategy to prevent minors from being exposed to what it describes as “harmful material” and other content “that promotes, glorifies, or facilitates” “suicide, self-harm, or eating disorders;” “substance abuse;” “stalking, bullying, or harassment;” and “grooming, trafficking, child pornography, or other sexual exploitation or abuse.”
In the same ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit also declined to strike down a provision of the same Texas law, the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act, also known as HB 18, that imposes age verification requirements, which the Supreme Court last year ruled pass constitutional muster….