Key Takeaways
The Supreme Court declined on Monday to block Texas from enforcing its App Store Accountability Act, so age verification and under-18 parental consent requirements stay in effect during the litigation.
Justice Samuel Alito denied the emergency applications in a pair of one-sentence orders that do not address whether the law is constitutional.
A district judge found in December that the law likely violates the First Amendment, but the Fifth Circuit stayed that ruling in June, and 27 state attorneys general back Texas.
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to block Texas from enforcing its App Store Accountability Act, a law that requires app stores to verify every user's age and obtain parental consent before anyone under 18 can download an app or make an in-app purchase. Justice Samuel Alito denied the emergency applications in a pair of one-sentence orders that say nothing about the merits, so the law stays in effect while the courts decide whether it is constitutional.
The challengers are the Computer and Communications Industry Association, a trade group whose members include Apple and Google, and a student organization called Students Engaged in Advancing Texas. They argue the law, passed last year as Senate Bill 2420, restricts access to speech the First Amendment protects.
US District Judge Robert Pitman agreed in December and blocked enforcement, writing that the law likely violates the First Amendment when considered on the merits. The Fifth Circuit stayed his ruling at the beginning of June, and Monday's orders leave that stay in place. Twenty-seven state attorneys general had filed a brief backing Texas two weeks earlier.
State Rep. Caroline Fairly, the law's House sponsor, said the court kept the act in effect "despite Big Tech's best efforts to thwart the will of Texas parents."
The stakes run past Texas. Utah passed the first app store age law in 2025, and the Texas orders signal those laws can operate while appeals run their course. The question of who checks a child's age online is being answered state by state, the same week the UN called for child-specific safety testing in AI and weeks after an ABC investigation showed how easily synthetic content reaches audiences of millions. Worth watching.
People Also Ask
What is the Texas App Store Accountability Act?
Senate Bill 2420, authored by Sen. Angela Paxton and sponsored in the House by Rep. Caroline Fairly, requires app store operators to verify users' ages and obtain parental consent for app downloads and in-app purchases by anyone under 18.
Did the Supreme Court uphold the Texas law?
No. The orders are procedural. The court declined to block enforcement while the First Amendment challenge continues in the lower courts, and it did not rule on whether the law is constitutional.
Who is challenging the Texas app store law?
The Computer and Communications Industry Association, whose members include Apple and Google, and Students Engaged in Advancing Texas. A district judge sided with them in December before the Fifth Circuit stayed that ruling in June.
Do other states have similar app store laws?
Yes. Utah passed the first app store age verification law in 2025, and 27 state attorneys general publicly backed Texas in this case, signaling more states are likely to follow.