Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced in a recent press conference the new legislation that would prohibit tech giants from censoring and de-platforming conservative voices in Texas.
On a Friday press release, Gov. Abbott and State Senator Bryan Hughes discussed Senate Bill 12, proposed by Hughes, which "will help prohibit social media companies from censoring Texans based on the viewpoints they express."
The bill is said to take effect at the start of September 2021.
"Conservative speech will not be canceled in the state of Texas," Gov. Abbott claimed. "We see that the First Amendment is under assault by the social media companies, and that is not going to be tolerated in Texas."
Abbott also mentioned that big tech companies, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube, have long been trying to crack down on conservative voices on their platforms through their "content moderation policies" and that this bill aims to protect Texans from such silencing and make their voices be heard, says The Blaze.
"They are choosing which viewpoints are going to be allowed to be presented," he added. "Texas is taking a stand against Big Tech political censorship: We're not going to allow it in the Lone Star state."
Gov. Abbott added that freedom of speech is a basic right for American citizens and silencing American conservatives would be a violation of this right. So this bill gives silenced Texans the opportunity to get back online and exercise their rights.
"It's sad that we have a handful of people in America today who want to control the town square, want to control social media, and want to enforce silence. If you have a viewpoint different from theirs, they want to shut you up. That's not the American way and that is not the Texas way," Abbott claimed.
Just last month, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also unveiled the same legislation that aims to protect conservatives from attacks of big techs.
Gov. DeSantis became the first-ever Republican Governor to fight back against big tech's censorship and propose new legislation that aims to protect Floridians from such attacks by the tech giants.
According to an article in Christianity Daily, DeSantis made the announcement in early February with Florida Lieutenant Gov. Jeanette Nunez, Florida Speaker of the House Christopher Sprowls, and Florida Rep. Blaise Ingoglia, claiming that big techs have been having "double standards" towards the information they publish.
"It's high time that we step up to the plate to ensure the protection of the people and their rights," DeSantis claimed.
The new legislation, DeSantis said, will prohibit tech giants from silencing conservative voices and prevent them from selling user's private information for their company's gain.
"Over the years, however, these platforms have changed from neutral platforms that provided Americans with the freedom to speak to enforcers of preferred narratives," DeSantis said. "These platforms have played an increasingly decisive role in elections and have negatively impacted Americans who dissent from orthodoxies favored by the Big Tech cartel."
Hopefully, with the new legislation being passed by conservative governors, big tech's censorship will come to an end and conservative Americans will not have to suffer being silenced in the internet again.
