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The Supreme Court has held off consideration of two major cases involving laws in Texas and Florida meant to penalize Big Tech for censorship, a decision that means the laws will remain blocked for longer.

The court announced Monday that it was delaying its consideration of Moody v. NetChoice and NetChoice v. Paxton and seeking the solicitor general's input on the matter. These two lawsuits deal specifically with Florida and Texas passing laws that would penalize social media companies for their handling of speech on platforms. The delay means that the laws will likely be suspended by lower courts until 2024.

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"We are excited to see that the Supreme Court is seriously considering taking up our cases and is asking the solicitor general for its take on [them]," NetChoice Counsel Chris Marchese told the Washington Examiner. "We expect the solicitor general will recognize the First Amendment rights of websites and to call on the Supreme Court to take up the cases and find for NetChoice and [the Computer & Communications Industry Association]."

The Texas law allows residents to file suit if a major online platform removes their post because of a certain viewpoint it expresses. The Florida law imposes monetary penalties on platforms that permanently ban the accounts of candidates for office in the state.

NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association sued Texas and Florida in 2021 in an effort to get the laws overturned. The two organizations receive funding from Google, Meta, and Twitter.

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The courts reached split decisions on the two laws. While a Florida federal judge ruled in favor of NetChoice's challenge, the 5th Circuit upheld the Texas law. Split decisions like that are typically a higher priority for the Supreme Court.

The court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in two Big Tech cases. The first is Gonzalez v. Googleon Feb. 21, a case relating to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and whether its protection of companies from being held liable for what users post also applies to algorithms. This will be followed by a similar case, Twitter v. Taamneh, on Feb. 22.

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Supreme Court punts on reviewing Florida and Texas social media laws