Supreme Court allows Texas app law requiring age verification to take effect
A Texas law restricting children’s ability to buy or download apps can be enforced while a lower court considers the case, according to a Supreme Court order issued Monday.
A student advocacy organization and tech trade group had appealed to the high court to stay the Texas App Store Accountability Act on an emergency basis until the lower court rules.
The law, which was signed into law in May 2025, mandates that developers and app stores use age verification tools to ensure children and teens under 18 cannot download apps without parental consent. It also requires that developers age rate their apps, a rule that the tech trade group the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) — whose members include Google, Meta and Apple — called “burdensome.”
The law has been hotly contested and courts have split on whether it is constitutional. In December, a Texas federal judge put enforcement on hold, but last month an appeals court reinstated TASAA.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is set to hear arguments in the case in August.
The CCIA plans to “demonstrate how Texas’ App Store Accountability Act (TASAA) violates the First Amendment,” a statement from the group said. “People should not have to turn over personal data to access the internet any more than they should show government identification to enter a bookstore.”
Youth advocates and tech companies argue that the law violates children’s First Amendment right to free speech.
A bipartisan group of more than two dozen state attorneys general filed an amicus brief backing TASAA last month.
“The lack of current controls is especially well-documented in the social media
context,” the brief said. “Platforms have long had parental controls, but they have made no dent in child addiction.”
“That is both because parents do not use them and because they are ineffective.”
Another Texas age verification law was upheld by the Supreme Court last year. That law seeks to keep children off of porn websites.
Suzanne Smalley
is a reporter covering digital privacy, surveillance technologies and cybersecurity policy for The Record. She was previously a cybersecurity reporter at CyberScoop. Earlier in her career Suzanne covered the Boston Police Department for the Boston Globe and two presidential campaign cycles for Newsweek. She lives in Washington with her husband and three children.