The Center for Renewing America views HB-20, the Texas social media law, “as an important step in preserving free speech in America,” aid the group's U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief Thursday (docket 22-555) in support of the statute and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R). The center’s founder, Russ Vought, was OMB director under President Donald Trump.

Milwaukee’s Deer District, which seeks to intervene to prevent Verizon's installation of small cells and mounting poles for July’s Republican National Convention in the public pedestrian plaza it controls outside the Fiserv Forum (see 2401230017), seeks Husch Blackwell's disqualification as Verizon’s counsel in the case, said its motion Tuesday (docket 2:23-cv-01581) in U.S. District Court for Eastern Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Verizon's opposition, also filed Tuesday, contends the district has waived its disqualification argument.

Timothy Aguilar’s four claims against Onvoy and Bandwidth in a Telephone Consumer Protection Act lawsuit should be dismissed with prejudice for lack of personal jurisdiction, said their motion to dismiss Wednesday (docket 4:23-cv-03988) in U.S. District Court for Southern Texas in Houston. The defendants' motion also contends the complaint should be dismissed for failure to state a claim on which relief may be granted.

The FCC’s Jan. 19 motion to dismiss the Insurance Marketing Coalition’s petition for review for lack of appellate jurisdiction because the petition is premature (see 2401190057) presents the question of what constitutes entry of a regulation under the Hobbs Act, IMC said in its response Thursday (docket 23-14125) in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Two privacy class actions filed Monday in U.S. District Court for Central California in Los Angeles allege dating platforms eHarmony and Grindr collected and retained biometric information from Illinois users in violation of Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). The Beligan Law Group filed both actions.

T-Mobile’s contract for the purchase of mobile phones from Unimax authorized it to cancel purchase orders (POs) before receipt of the phones “without incurring any liability,” said the defendant’s motion to dismiss (docket 2:23-cv-01830) Unimax's breach of contract suit in U.S. District Court for Western Washington in Seattle.

The Oct. 26 privacy class action alleging that software development kits in NBCUniversal apps allow app and website developers to “surreptitiously collect” and transmit data to third parties (see 2310270060) is “replete with technical jargon” and full of allegations about apps that the plaintiffs don’t allege “they ever used,” said NBCU and Peacock TV in their motion to dismiss Friday (docket 1:23-cv-09433) in U.S. District Court for Southern New York in Manhattan.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., urged the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision and interpret the First Amendment “in a manner consistent with the common-law legal principles that anchor the American constitutional framework,” he said in an amicus brief Tuesday (docket 22-555) in support of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) and the Texas social media law.

Dish Wireless removed to U.S. District Court for Eastern California in Sacramento Monday a Dec. 22 complaint filed in Butte County Superior Court in which AT&T alleges Dish wrongfully disconnected the power at AT&T’s cell tower at a facility in Chico, California, and has been using AT&T's electrical meter to power its own tower on the same site.

Here are Communications Litigation Today's top stories from last week, in case you missed them. Each can be found by searching on its title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.