A federal judge blocked a Texas law requiring mobile app stores to verify the age of users, which would have gone into effect on January 1.
In an order granting a preliminary injunction on the Texas App Store Accountability Act (SB 2420), Judge Robert Pittman wrote that the statute “is tantamount to a law that would require every bookstore to verify the age of every customer at the door and, for minors, require parental consent before the child or teen enters and again when they try to purchase a book.” Pittman has not yet ruled on the merits of the case, but his decision to grant a preliminary injunction means he believes its defenders are unlikely to prevail in court.
The Texas App Store Accountability Act is the first in a series of similar state laws to face a legal challenge, making the ruling especially important as Congress considers a version of the statute. The law, versions of which have also passed in Utah and Louisiana, aims to enforce age verification standards at the app store level, making companies like Apple and Google responsible for transmitting signals about users’ age to app developers in order to prevent users from age-inappropriate experiences. While the format is developed and supported by native advocates, it has received a boost from lobbying by Meta and other tech platforms that support the model, such as Snap and X.
The Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), whose members include Apple, Google, and Meta, filed a lawsuit to stop the law from taking effect, saying it “imposes a blanket censorship regime on the entire universe of mobile apps.” The group claims the Texas law would place a heavy burden on teens’ ability to access online speech, requiring them and their parents to give up information to access various apps. A student advocacy group filed a separate lawsuit to block the law, arguing that it unconstitutionally limits the speech to which children can be exposed. The state has said the law is constitutional and should be upheld.
The state can still appeal the decision to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has a history of overturning Internet rule bans. Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision and plans to appeal.
,[H]Despite consensus that the issue should be addressed, the Court remains bound by the rule of law.
Pittman found that the highest level of scrutiny must be applied to evaluate a law under the First Amendment, meaning the state must prove that the law is “the least restrictive means of achieving a compelling state interest.” The judge found that this is not the case, and that it would not survive intermediate scrutiny, because Texas has so far failed to prove that its goals are connected to its methods.
Since Texas already has a law requiring age verification for porn sites, Pittman said that “just in the vast number of applications SB 2420 would have constitutional application to unprotected speech that would not be addressed by other laws.” He acknowledged the importance of protecting children online, writing, “The means to achieve that goal must be consistent with the First Amendment. No matter how strong the policy concerns, and no matter how widespread the consensus that the issue should be addressed, the Court is bound by the rule of law.”
Apple has protested Texas’ approach to App Store age verification, with CEO Tim Cook reportedly calling Governor Greg Abbott to try to stop him from signing the law. Google has also opposed it, but the recent passage of App Store age assurance in California comes with a different model that would require less data collection.
Recently, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee advanced two versions of an App Store age-gating bill that borrow aspects from the Texas and California versions. The effort to expand the proposal nationally has Apple worried, with Cook meeting with committee leaders a day before the markup to discuss the bill.
As age verification proposals targeting app stores have advanced in states and Congress, however, the companies that run them are also responding to the growing regulatory threat with retroactive changes. For example, Apple announced new child safety features this year that included a way for parents to share their children’s age ranges with app developers.
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