from Hacker News

Texas Content Moderation Bill: Say Goodbye to Email Filters

by marmot777 on 9/16/21, 9:49 PM with 1 comments

• by treesprite82 on 9/17/21, 5:08 PM

  > I get a ton of email, so I use a special filtering service that routes my mail to different boxes -- including sending certain PR emails straight into the trash. As I read this bill, that would no longer be allowed in Texas.

  > And this includes monetary fines. So the PR folks who are mad that I never read their emails could sue for $10 for each message "unlawfully impeded" and $25,000 for each day that their emails are so impeded as well.

  To my understanding, the bill isn't restricting what an individual user can choose to block for themself. Like how a postal service being a common carrier doesn't mean you're not allowed to throw out junk mail you receive.

  It clarifies as follows for user pages which can be a bit of an in-between case:

  > (b) This chapter may not be construed to prohibit or restrict a social media platform from authorizing or facilitating a user's ability to censor specific expression on the user's platform or page at the request of that user.