District Court Denies TRO on Tenn. Kids’ Social Media Bill
The U.S. District Court for Middle Tennessee denied NetChoice’s motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) on a law limiting kids’ access to social media accounts. NetChoice’s claims of irreparable harm are at odds with its delay in filing motions for relief, the court said Friday.
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“As the Act’s effective date actually approached, Plaintiff did not signal a sense of urgency for the PI Motion to be decided before the Act’s effective date," noted Judge Eli Richardson in the ruling. “The best Plaintiff mustered was a belated and rather muted signal -- in a document not styled as a motion or even any request for relief, but rather as a ‘Notice of Supplemental Authority’ wherein Plaintiff ‘respectfully request[ed] that this Court enjoin Defendant from enforcing the Act against NetChoice’s regulated members before tomorrow, January 1, 2025.’”
Richardson added that the purpose of a TRO is to preserve the status quo, but in this case, it would not do that.
Case 24-01191 started in October when NetChoice sued the attorney general over privacy and First Amendment concerns about HB-1891. It required social media companies to verify the age of account holders and gain parental consent before users younger than 18 could open accounts (see 2501170070). NetChoice then filed a renewed motion for injunction on Jan. 16 and asked for a TRO (see 2501060056), which Skrmetti opposed on Jan. 23, on grounds that the first motion was still pending (see 2501240052).