Plaintiffs Oppose Meta’s Bid to Dismiss ‘Viewpoint Discrimination’ Case
Two private Facebook groups, called Wise Guys I and Wise Guys II, oppose Meta’s March 20 motion to dismiss their “viewpoint discrimination” complaint (see 2303210041), said their opposition Monday (docket 3:23-cv-00217) in U.S. District Court for Northern Texas in Dallas.…
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The plaintiffs allege Meta “impermissibly censored” their content, in violation of their First Amendment rights and HB 20, the Texas social media law (see 2301300023). Their complaint is “facially plausible” because its claims against Meta allow the court “to draw the reasonable inference that Meta is liable for the misconduct alleged under HB 20,” said their opposition. The “gravamen” of the plaintiffs’ complaint for viewpoint discrimination “sets forth detailed allegations about Meta’s censorship” of the Wise Guys’ posts addressing COVID-19, it said. The allegations are far more than “threadbare,” as they reference statements made by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, “which demonstrate Meta’s censorship of speech on Facebook,” it said.