Supreme Court Lets Texas Enforce App Store Age-Check Law as 27 States Back It
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Jul 6
Supreme Court Lets Texas Enforce App Store Age-Check Law as 27 States Back It
3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Jul 6
Summary
A one-sentence Supreme Court order on Monday refused to block Texas' App Store Accountability Act, allowing the state to enforce age verification and parental-consent rules while the case proceeds.
The law requires app stores and developers to verify users' ages and obtain parental consent before purchases, after a federal judge paused it in December and an appeals court reinstated it last month.
Students Engaged in Advancing Texas and the CCIA, whose members include Apple, Google and Meta, argue the measure limits minors' access to speech-enabling tools and violates the First Amendment.
A bipartisan group of 27 state attorneys general backed Texas in an amicus brief, and CCIA said it now expects an expedited Fifth Circuit hearing in early August.
The ruling follows the Supreme Court's decision last year upholding a separate Texas age-verification law covering pornographic websites, signaling continued judicial tolerance for such state restrictions.