TEXAS — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday singed House Bill 20 into law. It will punish social media companies such as Twitter and Facebook for alleged censorship of political viewpoints. The legislation in August passed through the Texas Senate 17-14.

What You Need To Know

  • Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Sept. 9 signed House Bill 20 into law. The law will punish social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook for alleged censorship of political viewpoints 

  • Although characterized as bipartisan, the legislation came after former President Trump was banned from the big social media platforms following the events of Jan. 6

  • The law will permit the state attorney general to file suit on behalf of Texans who are banned 

  • A similar law went into effect in Florida but was subsequently blocked by a federal judge 

The bill comes in the wake of former President Trump’s ban from the big social media platform following the events of Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol.

While there is no evidence that tech companies are biased against conservatives, the narrative has been popular with Republicans since before President Trump was elected and only grew louder throughout his term. Trump getting banned for life from Twitter and suspended from Facebook after inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol riots only reinforced it.

The law will allow Texans banned from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube for political expression to sue the companies. It further permits the state attorney general to sue on their behalf.

Conservatives such as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, claim platforms such as Twitter target the right and violate their First Amendment rights.

“Big Tech’s efforts to silence conservative viewpoints is un-American, un-Texan and unacceptable and pretty soon it’s going to be against the law in the state of Texas,” Abbott said earlier this year.

Social media companies, however, have claimed that they don’t target conservatives and instead remove harmful speech that violates their terms of service.

The First Amendment protects people from censorship by the federal government rather than the private sector.

A similar bill was passed in Florida in May but it was temporarily blocked by a federal judge.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.