Case: 21-51178
Document: 00516474571
Page: 5
Date Filed: 09/16/2022
No. 21-51178
The other relevant provision of HB 20 is Section 2. It imposes certain
disclosure and operational requirements on the Platforms. These
requirements fall into three categories. First, Platforms must disclose how
they moderate and promote content and publish an “acceptable use policy.”
Tex. Bus. & Com. Code §§ 120.051–52. This policy must inform users
about the types of content allowed on the Platform, explain how the Platform
enforces its policy, and describe how users can notify the Platform of content
that violates the policy. Id. § 120.052(b).
Platforms must also publish a “biannual transparency report.” Id.
§ 120.053. This report must contain various high-level statistics related to the
Platform’s content-moderation efforts, including the number of instances in
which the Platform was alerted to the presence of policy-violating content;
how the Platform was so alerted; how many times the Platform acted against
such content; and how many such actions were successfully or unsuccessfully
appealed. See ibid.
Last, Platforms must maintain a complaint-and-appeal system for
their users. See id. §§ 120.101–04. When a Platform removes user-submitted
content, it must generally explain the reason to the user in a written statement
issued concurrently with the removal. Id. § 120.103(a). It also must permit
the user to appeal the removal and provide a response to the appeal within 14
business days. Id. § 120.104. Section 2 includes various exceptions to these
notice-and-appeal requirements. See id. § 120.103(b).
Only the Texas Attorney General may enforce Section 2. Id.
§ 120.151. The Attorney General may seek injunctive relief but not damages.
Ibid.
B.
NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry
Association are trade associations representing companies that operate
5