As some regulators expand their focus on protecting children online to include teens, industry is complying with new laws while seeking workarounds and/or challenging regulation in courts, panelists said during a Morrison Foerster webinar Monday. The struggle will continue for a while, they added.
Trade association NetChoice asked a court Friday to consider blocking a Utah age-verification law because of its similarity to a Florida measure that was preliminarily enjoined.
Following the district court preliminarily enjoining a Mississippi social media age-verification law for the second time Wednesday, Attorney General Lynn Fitch (R) appealed the decision to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The U.S. District Court for Southern Mississippi ruled that the law was too broad to survive a First Amendment challenge, though the AG's office said it would fight for the “commonsense” law (see 2506180051).
A federal court on Wednesday declined to block a Tennessee law requiring that social media companies verify the age of account holders and gain parental consent from users younger than 18 before they can open accounts.
A district court preliminarily enjoined a Mississippi social media age-verification law for the second time Wednesday, ruling it's too broad to survive a First Amendment challenge. The U.S. District Court for Southern Mississippi previously enjoined the same law, HB-1126, in July 2024 (see 2407010062).
The Tennessee attorney general on Monday pushed back against NetChoice's recent claim that a district court decision blocking enforcement of a Florida social media law requiring age verification (see 2506030057) should serve as a reason to do the same thing against similar measures in Tennessee (see 2506040049).
A tech industry group on Friday ruled out the possibility that a rulemaking would alleviate its concerns with Vermont’s new age-appropriate design code law. Gov. Phil Scott (R) signed S-69 on Thursday (see 2506120094) despite vetoing a similar proposal last year. Businesses of all sizes will have to comply with the Vermont AADC or potentially face AG enforcement or lawsuits from individuals via a private right of action in the state's existing consumer protection law.
A pair of amicus briefs were filed Tuesday at the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, urging the court to side with a district court’s previous ruling that blocked the Utah attorney general from enforcing an age-verification law regulating social media and minors. The briefs argue against the law on First Amendment and privacy grounds.
A recent district court decision blocking enforcement of a Florida social media law requiring age verification (see 2506030057) should serve as a reason to grant a preliminary injunction against similar measures in Tennessee and Mississippi, NetChoice said in court documents Wednesday.
Florida AG James Uthmeier (R) on Tuesday appealed a district court decision that would block enforcement of a state social media law that would prohibit kids 13 and younger from creating social media accounts, as expected. The law also requires parental consent for 14- and 15-year-olds before creating social posts and employs age-verification to implement these restrictions (see 2506030057).