| Samir Jain, director of policy for the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology, said Tuesday's decision on the emergency petition makes that outcome more likely, though it's unclear whether it will be the Texas law or a similar GOP-led social media law in Florida that will trigger a review. "I do think it's highly likely that this case and or the case challenging the Florida social media law are going to go to the court on the merits," said Jain, whose group filed a brief against the Texas law and has funding money from tech companies including Facebook, Twitter and Google. He added, "It seems quite likely at this point we'll have a circuit split anyway between the 5th Circuit and the 11th Circuit, which is a usual indicator for the court taking the case." While the Supreme Court sided with the tech industry in blocking the law for now, legal experts said it's unclear whether the decision can give companies much peace of mind, given that the majority didn't spell out its reasoning. "They could have done so for a number of reasons," Jain said. "It could be because of their views on the merits. It could be because they thought it made sense to preserve the status quo until they can decide the case." Legal experts also said Alito's opinion, while in the minority, offered hints that multiple justices may see Texas's arguments for upholding the law favorably. "I think the dissenting opinions suggest that those three justices may in the end vote to uphold the Texas law or a similar state law," Scott Wilkens, senior staff attorney with the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, said of Alito, Thomas and Gorsuch. Wilkens, whose group has challenged the Texas law as unconstitutional, called the fact that several justices would have allowed it to go into effect "very concerning."
Alito also argued that "it is not at all obvious how our existing precedents, which predate the age of the Internet, should apply to large social media companies." Jain, whose group has argued there's precedent to suggest key aspects of the law are unconstitutional, said that the remarks "suggest at least some potential sympathy with Texas's arguments here." Regardless of justices' initial inclinations on the case, Wilkens said he thinks the court will agree with Alito that it's an issue too big to pass up more broadly. "I think the court will see it that way, given the role that social media platforms play in public discourse," he said. | 
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