Case: 21-51178 Document: 00516474571 Page: 3 Date Filed: 09/16/2022 No. 21-51178 I. A. This case involves HB 20, a Texas statute that regulates large social media platforms. 1 The law regulates platforms 2 with more than 50 million monthly active users (“Platforms”), such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 120.002(b). In enacting HB 20, the Texas legislature found that the Platforms “function as common carriers, are affected with a public interest, are central public forums for public debate, and have enjoyed governmental support in the United States.” It further found that “social media platforms with the largest number of users are common carriers by virtue of their market dominance.” Two sections of HB 20 are relevant to this suit. First is Section 7, which addresses viewpoint-based censorship of users’ posts. Section 7 provides: A social media platform may not censor a user, a user’s expression, or a user’s ability to receive the expression of another person based on: 1 The full text of HB 20 can be viewed here: https://perma.cc/9KF3-LEQX. The portions of HB 20 relevant to this lawsuit are codified at Texas Business and Commerce Code §§ 120.001–151 and Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code §§ 143A.001–08. 2 HB 20 defines “social media platform” to include “an Internet website or application that is open to the public, allows a user to create an account, and enables users to communicate with other users for the primary purpose of posting information, comments, messages, or images.” Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 120.001(1). The definition expressly excludes internet service providers, email providers, and any “online service, application, or website” that “consists primarily of news, sports, entertainment, or other information or content that is not user generated but is preselected by the provider,” and “for which any chat, comments, or interactive functionality is incidental to, directly related to, or dependent on the provision of [that] content.” Id. § 120.001(1)(A)– (C). 3