Texas Senators Seek More Enforcement of Social Media Law

The Texas House received a Senate-passed bill Wednesday that would add more teeth to the state’s already controversial social media law. Despite a tech industry challenge of the original 2021 law at the Supreme Court (see 2301230051), the Texas Senate voted 18-12 Tuesday for SB-2509 to create a new cause of action under the state’s deceptive trade practices law to allow private suits against platforms for not following the 2021 law. It would also allow the state attorney general to issue civil investigate demands if the AG “has reason to believe that a person has engaged in, is engaging in, or is about to engage in a violation of this chapter.”