For now, at least.
A federal judge has temporarily blocked a new Texas law adding restrictions on children’s use of app stores.
Senate Bill 2420, which was supposed to activate on Jan. 1, establishes age verification requirements and mandates parental consent before a minor is allowed to download or make purchases within apps. Its supporters say the law is needed to protect children as they navigate social media and online spaces, while critics say it would violate free speech rights.
U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman, an Obama appointee, on Tuesday sided with the law’s opponents, saying that parts of it are “unconstitutionally vague” and “exceedingly overbroad.”
“The Act 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 wrote in a 20-page ruling granting a preliminary injunction.
“As set out below, the Court finds a likelihood that, when considered on the merits, SB 2420 violates the First Amendment.”
[…]
The Computer & Communication Industry Association, which filed the lawsuit in October, cheered the decision.
“This Order stops the Texas App Store Accountability Act from taking effect in order to preserve the First Amendment rights of app stores, app developers, parents, and younger internet users,” Stephanie Joyce, director of CCIA’s Litigation Center, said in a news release. “It also protects parents’ inviolate right to use their own judgment in safeguarding their children online using the myriad tools our members provide.”
The law also faced a legal challenge from two Texas teens and Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, a youth-led advocacy organization.
“App stores allow anyone with a smartphone and an internet connection to access the accumulated sum of virtually all recorded human knowledge and expression,” Adam Sieff, an attorney representing them, said in a statement Tuesday. “Banning students like SEAT’s members, M.F., and Z.B., from accessing these massive libraries without parental consent, just because the government thinks that’s what their parents ought to want, has never been a constitutionally permissible way to protect kids or support families.”
Under SB 2420, developers must assign age ratings to their apps, disclose the reason for the rating, and notify the app stores of any significant changes. Parental consent is not required for specific emergency or educational applications, such as those providing access to crisis hotlines.
See here, here, and here for some background. The vagueness and the broadness are standard features in these laws now, as they encourage overcompliance and make it harder to pin down intent. You know the drill here – it will be off to the Fifth Circuit and then maybe to SCOTUS from here, and no one can say what they will do with any of this. But for now at least, the Republican campaign to restrict speech has hit a speed bump.