5th Circuit upholds Texas law forbidding social media ‘censorship’ — again: The ruling is a win for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in their efforts to combat what they call censorship of conservative viewpoints by social media companies.

Netchoice and the CCIA have argued that the First Amendment protects social media platforms’ ability to curate content, much like a newspaper does.

Oldham dismissed this argument, writing in the decision, “We reject the Platforms’ attempt to extract a freewheeling censorship right from the Constitution’s free speech guarantee. The Platforms are not newspapers. Their censorship is not speech.”

Edith Jones, a Ronald Reagan appointee who concurred in the largely 2-1 decision, was even more scathing, calling NetChoice’s argument “ludicrous.”

However, Leslie Southwick, the third judge on the appeals court panel (nominated by George W. Bush), dissented, arguing that social media platforms are indeed similar to newspapers. “The First Amendment, though, is what protects the curating, moderating, or whatever else we call the Platforms’ interaction with what others are trying to say. We are in a new arena, a very extensive one, for speakers and for those who would moderate their speech. None of the precedents fit seamlessly. The majority appears assured of their approach; I am hesitant.”

Texas’ law, were it to go into effect, could drastically change the way social media companies operate by restricting their ability to police their platforms and forcing the platforms to keep up content that could violate their hate speech rules.