Texas is considering a sweeping set of legislative changes that would erode First Amendment protections, emboldening corporations and powerful individuals to use retaliatory lawsuits to silence their critics. If passed, the bills could unleash a torrent of defamation attacks against journalists and citizens at a time when major businesses, including Silicon Valley tech giants, are flocking to the state for its business-friendly regulatory and tax environment.

A shadowy cohort of high-net-worth individuals and fossil fuel interests is funding the lobbying groups pushing for these reforms, along with billionaire newcomers to the state like Elon Musk. If the lobbying campaign is successful, similar reforms could sweep across the country as states compete in a race to the bottom to attract businesses.

Yet rolling back constitutional protections at the behest of corporate interests has faced enormous populist opposition, and even within a deep-red state, it is dividing the Republican Party. A grassroots coalition of conservatives, wary of free speech being auctioned off to the highest bidder, has made unlikely allies with liberal nonprofits and media outlets that are equally threatened by the receding legal protections.