The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked a Texas law that would have required websites to filter "harmful" speech. Judges ruled that the SCOPE Act's monitoring and filtering requirement is preempted by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which provides broad immunity to online platforms for third-party content.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argued the law imposed compliance duties, not publisher liability, and aligned with Section 230's child-protection goals. However, the court found enforcement actions related to filtering are claims stemming from platforms' publishing actions. The law aimed to prevent minors' exposure to content deemed obscene, or that promotes suicide, self-harm, bullying, trafficking, and child exploitation.

While the filtering requirement was blocked, the 5th Circuit did not dismiss the entire law. It found a student group lacked standing to challenge other provisions, allowing them to be enforced. These include requirements for age registration, restrictions on targeted advertising to minors, and age verification for platforms with a significant amount of obscene content.