Supreme Court Allows Texas to Enforce App Store Age Verification Law
The U.S. Supreme Court has decided not to intervene in a Texas law requiring app stores to verify users’ ages and obtain parental consent for minors downloading apps or making in-app purchases. This decision keeps the Texas App Store Accountability Act in effect, following a ruling from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Justice Samuel Alito issued orders denying requests from plaintiffs challenging the law’s constitutionality, arguing that it infringes on free speech rights. These plaintiffs include the Computer & Communications Industry Association and Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton as a defendant.
The plaintiffs contend that the law restricts access to First Amendment-protected content, such as news and educational materials. “Equity and the public interest support relief because protecting First Amendment rights — and parents’ rights to supervise their children as they see fit, not as the government tells them they should — is always in the public interest,” stated attorneys for Students Engaged in Advancing Texas.
In contrast, representatives from Paxton’s office defend the law as a protective measure for children against potentially harmful digital content. They argue, “A child with access to an app store and a mobile device (such as a tablet or smartphone) can potentially download any number of software applications, potentially agreeing to invasions of the child’s privacy and sale of the child’s data and be exposed to any conceivable content without parental consent or even parental knowledge.”
