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A federal judge blocked a Texas law requiring mobile app stores to verify users’ ages from taking effect on January 1st.
In an order granting a preliminary injunction on the Texas App Store Accountability Act (SB 2420), Judge Robert Pitman wrote that the statute “is akin 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 could enter and again when they try to purchase a book.” Pitman has not yet ruled on the merits of the case, but his decision to grant the preliminary injunction means he believes its defenders are unlikely to prevail in court.
The Texas App Store Accountability Act is the first among a series of similar state laws to face a legal challenge, making the ruling especially significant, as Congress considers a version of the statute. The laws, versions of which also passed in Utah and Louisiana, aim to impose age verification standards at the app store level, making companies like Apple and Google responsible for transmitting signals about users’ ages to app developers to block users from age-inappropriate experiences. While the format has been developed and championed by parent advocates, it’s gotten a boost from lobbying by Meta and other tech platforms that support the model, like Snap and X.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), whose members include Apple, Google, and Meta, sued to block the law from taking effect, saying it “imposes a broad censorship regime on the entire universe of mobile apps.” The group claims that the Texas law would impose steep burdens on teens’ ability to access speech online, requiring them and their parents to give up information in order to access various apps. A student advocacy group separately sued to block the law, arguing it unconstitutionally limits speech that kids can be exposed to. The state has maintained that the law is constitutional and should be upheld.
The state can still appeal the ruling with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has a history of reversing blocks on internet regulations. Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling and on its plans to appeal.
“[H]owever widespread the agreement that the issue must be addressed, the Court remains bound by the rule of law”
Pitman found that the highest level of scrutiny must be applied to evaluate the law under the First Amendment, which means the state must prove the law is “the least restrictive means of achieving a compelling state interest.” The judge found this is not the case, and that it wouldn’t even 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, Pitman said that “only in the vast minority of applications would SB 2420 have a constitutional application to unprotected speech not addressed by other laws.” He acknowledged the importance of safeguarding kids online, he wrote, “the means to achieve that end must be consistent with the First Amendment. However compelling the policy concerns, and however widespread the agreement that the issue must be addressed, the Court remains bound by the rule of law.”
Apple has opposed Texas’ approach to app store age verification, with CEO Tim Cook reportedly going as far as calling Governor Greg Abbott to try to dissuade him from signing the law. Google has also opposed it, but has come around to a different model of app store age assurance recently passed in California, which would require less data collection.
Recently, a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee advanced two versions of app store age-gating bills that borrow aspects from the Texas and California versions. The effort to expand the proposal nationally has alarmed Apple, with Cook meeting with committee leaders the day before the markup to discuss the bills.
As age verification proposals targeting app stores have moved forward in states and Congress, however, the companies that run them also seem to be responding to the growing regulatory threat with preemptive changes. Apple, for example, announced new kids safety features this year that included a way for parents to share their kids’ age ranges with app developers.
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