The U.S. Supreme Court has decided not to prevent Texas from enforcing a law that mandates app stores to verify users’ ages and gain parental consent for minors who want to download apps or make in-app purchases on mobile phones. Justice Samuel Alito issued two one-sentence orders rejecting petitions from plaintiffs who argue that the Texas App Store Accountability Act infringes on users’ constitutional rights to free speech.
Last month, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the law to take effect, overturning a previous district court ruling that deemed the law unconstitutional. The plaintiffs opposing the law include the Computer & Communications Industry Association and Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, with the state’s Attorney General, Ken Paxton, named as a defendant in both cases.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs claim that the law aims to unfairly restrict access to content protected by the First Amendment, such as news and educational material. Attorneys for Students Engaged in Advancing Texas emphasized the importance of protecting First Amendment rights and parents’ rights to oversee their children without government interference, arguing that it serves the public interest.
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.
Attorneys from Paxton’s office defended the law, stating it is designed to shield children from potentially hazardous products. They highlighted the risks involved when children use app stores, noting that minors could download various software applications, agreeing to privacy invasions, data sales, and encountering content without parental consent or awareness.
A child with access to an app store and a mobile device 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.