Tenn. AG: NetChoice Lacks Standing to Challenge Age-Verification Law
The as-applied challenges and vagueness challenge in NetChoice's amended complaint in a case against a Tennessee age-verification law should be dismissed, argued Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti Tuesday. In case 3:24-cv-01191, NetChoice argued the statute violates the First Amendment and other privacy measures (see 2501170070), but the U.S. District Court for Middle Tennessee declined to preliminarily enjoin HB-1891 in June (see 2506200017).
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"Associations generally lack standing to bring their members’ as-applied claims," so the court should dismiss them, the state's court document said. "Separately, this Court should dismiss NetChoice’s vagueness challenges for failure to state a claim," since "the Act’s definition of a 'social media company' is not vague."
The case started in October 2024, when NetChoice sued over the law that requires social media companies to verify the age of account holders and gain parental consent before users younger than 18 can open accounts (see 2501240052). The trade association also asked for a temporary restraining order, which was denied in February (see 2502180051).
Skrmetti has maintained that the court should not grant the injunction (see 2503250041).