{"id":364428,"date":"2026-07-07T20:40:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T20:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/364428\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T20:40:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T20:40:07","slug":"scotus-lets-texas-enforce-app-store-law-that-big-tech-calls-censorship-regime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/364428\/","title":{"rendered":"SCOTUS lets Texas enforce app store law that Big Tech calls “censorship regime”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Texas App Store Accountability Act<\/a> requires app stores to determine people\u2019s ages with a \u201ccommercially reasonable method of verification\u201d and to impose restrictions on people under 18. Apple and Google announced plans to comply<\/a> with the law last year but warned that it would harm users\u2019 privacy.<\/p>\n

Laws regulating speech face different levels of scrutiny depending on their nature. \u201cWhen the government favors some speakers over others for their content, the law must be subject to strict scrutiny,\u201d Pitman\u2019s decision said.<\/p>\n

Pitman decided to apply strict scrutiny because he said the Texas law is content-based. The law excludes certain types of apps operated by nonprofits, government entities, and emergency services, while seeking \u201cto shield minors from certain speech the State deems objectionable or harmful,\u201d the district judge wrote.<\/p>\n

The 5th Circuit said Pitman is wrong. \u201cAt most, SB2420 regulates speech that \u2018proposes a commercial transaction,\u2019 which is subject to intermediate scrutiny,\u201d the 5th Circuit panel said, adding that \u201capp listings propose commercial transactions, regardless of whether any monetary payment is made.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paxton says Texas has duty to protect children<\/p>\n

The judges\u2019 panel further said the law would likely survive under intermediate scrutiny because it advances important governmental interests unrelated to speech and does not burden substantially more speech than is necessary to achieve those goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cRequiring age verification, parental consent, and app-related content ratings likely directly and materially advances Texas\u2019s substantial interest in protecting children\u2019s data, safety, and privacy in a digital world\u2026 That some works protected by the First Amendment may be the object of app downloads or in-app purchases does not categorically exempt them from ordinary regulations governing commercial transactions,\u201d the panel said.<\/p>\n

The panel also faulted the district court for issuing a \u201cuniversal\u201d injunction that prevents the law from being enforced against anyone, rather than a more limited injunction preventing enforcement against the plaintiffs and their members.<\/p>\n

After winning in the 5th Circuit, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said<\/a> that \u201cTexas has not only the right, but the duty, to protect children from the harms of our modern digital space. Parents deserve to know what their children are downloading and to have the ability to stop them from accessing harmful or inappropriate content.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Texas App Store Accountability Act requires app stores to determine people\u2019s ages with a \u201ccommercially reasonable method…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364429,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-364428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}