BILL ANALYSIS

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

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S.B. 2509 will enhance the great work done by H.B. 20 (87th Legislature, 2nd Called Session) and give Texas more tools to fight back against the egregious censorship that is still happening on social media platforms across the state and help ensure that the consumer protection provisions are better enforced.

S.B. 2509 would create a new cause of action under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA) that would allow individual Texans to bring a suit against the platforms for not following the consumer protection provisions created by H.B. 20.

The bill would also allow the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) to use the same civil investigatory demand (CID) authority that they have for other potential DTPA violations, such as anti-trust, to help them enforce the consumer protection laws created by H.B. 20.

Censorship of Texans' viewpoints on social media platforms became such a problem that the 87th Legislature passed H.B. 20, which gave Texans the right to sue for an injunction if their viewpoints had been censored. The legislation also created a consumer protection scheme in Texas law requiring social media companies to create public disclosures around their censorship practices, to have transparent "acceptable use policies" for all users to be aware of, and to give regular transparency reports on their censorship and moderation actions under those policies.

While H.B. 20 did give individual Texans a right to enjoin their posts being censored, it did not give individual Texans a remedy if the social media platforms failed to meet their obligations under the consumer protection portion of the legislation.

Texas' deceptive trade practices laws exist specifically to protect Texas consumers from market abuses and other trade practices that harm consumers. OAG has statutory authority to investigate potential violations of DTPA laws using its CID powers.

This legislation would address both of these issues by giving individual Texans a remedy to enforce the consumer protection provisions of H.B. 20 and by giving OAG the same CID authority it has to investigate anti-trust violations.

The existing provision of the Business and Commerce Code that this legislation amends does not give individual Texans a remedy to enforce the consumer protection provisions put into law by H.B. 20. This legislation would give them that remedy and give OAG CID authority commensurate with other DTPA violations.

As proposed, S.B. 2509 amends current law relating to enforcement of the regulation of social media platforms.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter D, Chapter 120, Business and Commerce Code, by adding Sections 120.152 and 120.153, as follows:

Sec. 120.152. ATTORNEY GENERAL INVESTIGATIVE AUTHORITY. Authorizes the attorney general, if the attorney general has reason to believe that a person has engaged in, is engaging in, or is about to engage in a violation of Chapter 120 (Social Media Platforms), to issue a civil investigative demand. Provides that the procedures established for the issuance of a civil investigative demand under Section 15.10 (Civil Investigative Demands) apply to the same extent and manner to the issuance of a civil investigative demand under this section. Authorizes the attorney general to seek an order from the district court compelling compliance with a civil investigative demand issued under this section.

Sec. 120.153. DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICE. Provides that a violation of this chapter is a false, misleading, or deceptive act or practice under Subchapter E (Deceptive Trade Practices and Consumer Protection), Chapter 17, and is actionable under that subchapter.

SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 2023.