NetChoice Seeks Court's Block of Miss. Age-Verification Law While Appeal Pends
NetChoice asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to continue to block a Mississippi age-verification law that a district court enjoined in June (see 2506180051) while the case is pending. Yet Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch (R) noted in a July 2 court document that the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton affirms age-verification measures. Fitch has vowed to fight for the "commonsense" law (see 2506200009).
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"Rather than grappling with controlling precedent, Defendant contends Free Speech Coal., Inc. v. Paxton holds that States may impose any speech restrictions to protect minors," NetChoice's brief said. "But FSC was expressly limited to 'pornography,' which is a unique category of speech simultaneously unprotected for minors yet protected for adults."
"In stark contrast, this Act 'directly target[s] ... fully protected speech,' which triggers 'strict scrutiny' under FSC," the brief continued. "Ultimately, States’ 'legitimate power to protect children from harm ... does not include a free-floating power to restrict the ideas to which children may be exposed.'”
Case 25-60348, on appeal from the U.S. District Court for Southern Mississippi (where it was case 24-00170), is a NetChoice suit challenging Mississippi's HB-1126, which requires parental consent for minors younger than 18 to create accounts with covered digital service providers. The trade association argues it violates the First Amendment (see 2406070059).
Federal court Judge Halil Ozerden granted a stay of proceedings at the district level on July 2 while the 5th Circuit hears the appeal (see 2507030035).