NetChoice, Miss. AG Argue Impact of Recent 5th Circuit Ruling Over Kids Online Safety Law
NetChoice fired back at the Mississippi Attorney General Friday for attempting to reverse a preliminary injunction on a children’s online safety law, arguing that the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in NetChoice v. Paxton has no bearing on an ongoing case in the state. AG Lynn Fitch (R) on Wednesday filed a letter to the 5th U.S. Circuit urging that it rule against an injunction, as it did in the Paxton case.
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Scott Keller, counsel of record for NetChoice, wrote, “NetChoice, LLC v. Paxton provides no support for reversing this preliminary injunction.” Keller added, “Defendant agrees this law ‘has a targeted scope’ with a ‘clear focus’ on ‘online social-media platforms.’ Defendant’s letter reiterates that this law ‘regulates social-media platforms.’…Defendant never argues otherwise and has forfeited any such argument. No record development can change that.”
NetChoice sued Fitch last year over HB-1126, alleging that it violates the First Amendment and that its privacy risks stem from an age-verification requirement. On Wednesday, counsel for Fitch submitted a letter to the 5th U.S. Circuit advising that it consider Paxton, where a preliminary injunction on a social media censorship law was vacated due to the plaintiff's failure to develop a factual record supporting its request for injunctive relief.
Scott Stewart, solicitor general of Mississippi, said, “Paxton confirms that the preliminary injunction in this case cannot stand and that NetChoice cannot obtain such relief without developing an extensive factual record.” Given the ruling in Paxton, NetChoice must “develop a record allowing the district court to determine—for ‘every hypothetical application’ of every challenged provision—'whether there is an intrusion on’ First Amendment rights. NetChoice did nothing like that."
Oral argument in NetChoice v. Fitch is set for Tuesday.
NetChoice and its co-plaintiff, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), filed an amended complaint Friday in NetChoice v. Paxton, seeking a permanent injunction on HB-20.
“Texas’s must-carry social media statute violates federal law in myriad ways," said CCIA Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff Stephanie Joyce. "We look forward to a judgment in this case that strikes this unconstitutional abridgment of speech and reiterates the primacy of the First Amendment in the online ecosystem.”