Meta Follows Elon Musk’s Lead, Moves Staffers to Billionaire-Friendly Texas

“Executives are doing their best to create the right environment for what they want to do, absent is the review or accountability from actors like our courts or legislators or others,” she says.

Since taking over X, which was formerly Twitter, Musk has become one of Trump’s most important allies. Financially support his campaign And lent the full weight of his own platform to Trump’s rhetoric during the campaign. He has since sat in on meetings with the president-elect and weighed in with foreign leaders Staff choice For the new administration. Other tech leaders have taken note, cozying up to Trump Donate to its inaugural fund. But even before the election Other tech companies followed X’s lead in rolling back policies and safeguards That was in place before.

For his part, David Green, senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said Meta and other social platforms would likely have to comply with state laws regardless of location. And moving workers to Texas doesn’t mean all of its supposed restraint problems will be solved. Bias, he said, can cut both ways.

“Misinformation is really one of the many, many, many problems 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 release certain information about the availability of abortion services.”

But Benavidez said Texas’ social media law may not be the only application in the state. “Once a company is either headquartered or doing significant business in a state, that allows them to use that state for jurisdiction for future filings,” he says.

In 2023, X has filed a lawsuit in Texas against the nonprofit watchdog Media Matters for AmericaThe group accused the company of defaming it by pointing to hate speech and spreading misinformation alongside advertisements on the platform. At that time, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Also announced His office launched an investigation into the agency. A federal judge in Texas In August 2024, the case refused to be thrown out. X is from has changed its terms of service So that any lawsuit against the company would have to be brought in Texas. The feds must bring in the northern district of Texas, which is widely seen as friendly to Musk’s interests. (Judges in the Media Matters case, for example, reported Buying and selling stocks (at Musk’s Tesla company earlier in the year before bringing the suit.)

Meta’s Terms of ServiceContrary to its community guidelines, which have remained the same so far, mandatory disputes will be resolved 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 said.

Gill posits that Texas’ regulatory environment could be what companies believe the national regulatory environment will look like under a new Trump administration.

“I think they’re looking ahead and seeing an environment that’s going to be dominated by a conservative-leaning and extremist administration,” she says. “So they’re moving to a place where it’s the norm so they can comply beforehand.”

Gill also noted that the meta is facing a Antitrust case from the Federal Trade CommissionWhich a friendly administration might see fit to toss. “By pre-emptively making these changes that they hope will satisfy the administration, they’re hoping for an amicable decision in return,” she says.

Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.