The First Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that Congress shall make no law abridging (curtailing) the freedom of speech. Thus, free speech is only protected by the U.S. Constitution when it is the government that seeks to limit free speech. And the First Amendment is inapplicable when a nongovernmental person or entity—such as a social media company—seeks to limit free speech. But despite the legal authority of social media companies to regulate speech on their platforms, there is an ongoing debate about whether such companies should regulate speech, and if so, the extent and manner in which they should do so.
In Texas, as in all states, the First Amendment to the United States Constitution protects individuals from government restrictions on free speech, but it does not apply to private entities, including social media companies. These companies have the legal right to regulate speech on their platforms, as they are considered private actors and not state actors. The ongoing debate in Texas and across the nation revolves around the ethical and societal implications of such regulation by social media companies, rather than the legal authority to do so. While the First Amendment does not restrict these companies, there have been discussions and legislative attempts at the state level to address the perceived censorship by social media platforms. For example, Texas has attempted to pass laws that would limit the ability of social media companies to regulate speech on their platforms, but these efforts face legal challenges based on the argument that they infringe on the companies' own First Amendment rights.
