In a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld a Texas law requiring age verification for access to porn sites (see 2506270015 and 2501130012). The majority in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton sided with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) in support of HB-1181, which the adult industry trade association Free Speech Coalition said violates the First Amendment (see 2409170012).
A district court on Thursday granted a preliminary injunction against a 2024 Georgia law aimed at protecting kids by requiring age verification and parental consent for minors to create social media accounts. However, Georgia's attorney general signaled that the state will continue to fight for the law.
A federal judge Wednesday denied Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch's request for a stay of an injunction blocking a social media age-verification law. Fitch (R) asked for the injunction to be lifted while an appeal of case 24-00170 was pending at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (see 2506200009).
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.