Federal appeals court pauses Texas social media law’s enforcement amid looming Supreme Court petition [Video]

Washington CNN Business  — 

A federal appeals court has agreed to suspend enforcement of Texas’ social media law restricting content moderation, in the face of a looming request by tech industry groups for the Supreme Court to review the case.

In an order on Wednesday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a stay of its earlier mandate that had paved the way for the Texas law, known as HB 20, to take effect.

HB 20 aims to expose social media platforms including Meta, YouTube and Twitter to new private lawsuits, as well as suits by the state’s attorney general, over the companies’ decisions to remove or reduce the visibility of user content they deem objectionable.

The law is viewed as a challenge to decades of First Amendment precedent, which holds the government may not compel private entities to host speech.

In a filing leading up to Wednesday’s order, the technology groups challenging the …