Supreme Court allows Texas limits for kids in app stores

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed a Texas law to go into effect that limits minors’ ability to purchase or download apps without parental consent. The justices turned down requests from a student advocacy group and a technology advocacy organization to temporarily block the law. The decision, issued in a pair of brief, unsigned orders, will let the advocacy groups’ challenge to the law play out in lower courts. In the meantime, Texas can enforce its law, which was passed last year.

The law requires app stores to verify all users’ ages and block individuals under age 18 from downloading or purchasing most apps without parental consent. Utah, Louisiana, and Alabama have enacted similar laws.

Why was Texas’ law challenged? The Students Engaged in Advancing Texas and the Computer and Communications Industry Association filed similar lawsuits against the law shortly before it was set to take effect. They argued that the legislation limited minors’ access to tools to enable their free speech rights.

Texas said its law regulated commercial transactions rather than speech. A bipartisan group of 27 state attorneys general signed a brief supporting Texas, urging that the law protects the well-being of children.

A federal district court granted the group’s preliminary injunction, which blocked the law from going into effect earlier this year. The lower court said Texas’ law prohibited minors from participating in the democratic exchange of views online. But in June, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the law. The Supreme Court’s decision Monday leaves the appeals court ruling in place while courts evaluate the underlying lawsuit.

Dig deeper: Read my report for Liberties on a Supreme Court decision that last year upheld a Texas age verification law for pornography sites.