Eric Goldman was quoted in the Washington Post about a Texas bill signed by Governor Greg Abbott that prohibits social media giants from blocking users based on viewpoint; and by Buzzfeed News about a Facebook watchdog group, The Real Facebook Oversight Board, appearing to cheer for an Australian law that does nothing directly to check Facebook’s power while harming the interests of the press.
Eric Goldman, a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law, said the Texas law does not “survive critical scrutiny,” and he expects that it will be struck down by the court system like the law in Florida was. He said both the Florida and Texas laws “represent an effort to play for partisan crowd, not to make good policy.”
“Even if it’s struck down, it’s a symptom of a much bigger structural problem we have in the country that politicians think this is how they should be spending their time,” Goldman said, noting that taxpayer dollars would likely be spent defending the laws in court.
