“The authorities are doing everything they can to create a conducive environment for the actions they want to take, absent review or accountability from actors like our courts or legislators or others,” she says.
Musk has become one of Trump's most important allies since taking over X, formerly Twitter, financially support their campaign And giving the full weight of his own platform to promoting Trump's talking points during the campaign. He has since joined the President-elect in meetings with foreign leaders and evaluated him staffing options For the new administration. Other tech leaders have taken note, expressing sympathy for Trump donating to their inaugural fundbut even before the elections Other tech companies were following X's lead in rolling back policies and security Which already existed.
For his part, David Green, senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says Meta and other social platforms must comply with state laws regardless of location. And relocating staff to Texas doesn't mean all of its alleged moderation problems will be fixed. He says bias can cut both ways.
“Misinformation is really just one of many issues that social media platforms have to deal with,” he says. “Having a moderation team in Texas could also raise concerns about bias. For example, Texas has laws on the books that make it illegal to publish certain information about the availability of abortion services.
But Benavidez says Texas' social media law may not be the state's only appeal. She says, “Once a company is either headquartered in a state or doing significant business, it allows them to use that state for jurisdiction in any future filings Is.”
In 2023, Ax files suit in Texas against nonprofit watchdog Media Matters for AmericaAlleging that the group has defamed the company by saying that the platform contains advertisements as well as hate speech and disinformation. At the time, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also announced His office was launching an investigation into the organization. a federal judge in texas Refused to dismiss the case in August 2024X has since changed its terms of service So that any lawsuit against the company would be brought in Texas. The federal ones are to be brought to the Northern District of Texas, which is widely considered favorable to Musk's interests. (For example, the judge in the Media Matters case reportedly said bought and sold stocks at Musk's Tesla company earlier this year, before the suit was brought.)
of meta terms of ServiceContrary to its community guidelines, which have remained the same for now, disputes are mandated to be handled either in the Northern District of California or at the state level, in San Mateo County. But that may change.
“The legislative environment in Texas, the judicial environment, the gubernatorial environment is incredibly favorable for executives like Musk and now Zuckerberg,” Benavidez says.
Gill believes the regulatory environment in Texas could be similar to what companies believe the national regulatory environment will look like under the new Trump administration.
“I think they're looking forward and seeing an environment that's going to be dominated by a conservative-leaning and kind of extremist administration,” she says. “So they're going to places where it's the norm so they can be pre-compliant.”
Gill also noted that the meta is facing Antitrust lawsuit from the Federal Trade CommissionWhich a friendly administration may consider appropriate to avoid. “They're hoping that by making these changes in advance that the administration will be pleased,” she says, “maybe they're expecting a friendly decision in return.”
Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.