Texas Asks Supreme Court to Uphold App Age-Verification Law

Why it matters locally: If the Supreme Court upholds Texas's age-verification law, it could set a precedent affecting digital content regulations nationwide, including in New Mexico, potentially impacting app developers and parental control options for families across the state.

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Texas asked the Supreme Court on Monday to keep in place a federal appeals court decision allowing the state to enforce a law imposing age-verification and parental-consent requirements on minors' access to apps and paid content. Half the states have adopted similar requirements. The App Store Accountability Act, enacted by the Texas Legislature last year, was set to take effect Jan. 1, 2026. Federal Judge Robert Pitman blocked the law in December, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit paused his order in June, allowing enforcement to proceed. Texas Solicitor General William Peterson argued that the digital environment differs fundamentally from the physical world. In apps, children can access "any conceivable content without parental consent or even parental knowledge," Peterson wrote, making regulation necessary. Two sets of challengers sued before the law took effect. Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, which describes itself as a group using mobile apps to teach young people about policymaking, joined two teenagers who use apps for art and journalism. The Computer and Communications Industry Association, representing app stores and developers, also challenged the measure. Pitman initially applied strict scrutiny, the most demanding constitutional test for laws affecting speech, and determined the law likely violated the First Amendment. The 5th Circuit disagreed, ruling that the law regulates "commercial speech" and should face intermediate scrutiny, a less stringent standard. The appeals court found the law met that test because it advances Texas's interest in protecting children's data, safety and privacy. The challengers asked the Supreme Court last week to reinstate Pitman's orders. They argued the 5th Circuit's reasoning would classify "virtually the entire internet" as commercial speech, potentially allowing government to ban or restrict broad swaths of online content. They also contended Texas already shields children from adult content, making the law's stated purpose invalid. The CCIA warned the appeals court decision would expose app stores and millions of developers to potential liability and "enormous and unrecoverable compliance costs." Texas countered that the 5th Circuit correctly applied intermediate scrutiny and that the law "readily survives" that standard. The measure serves parental authority by allowing parents to control which apps their children access and which terms they accept, the state wrote. Texas also invoked the Supreme Court's 2025 ruling in Trump v. CASA, which restricted district courts' power to issue nationwide injunctions. Pitman's orders barred enforcement "against anyone, not just" the challengers, Texas argued, falling within those constraints. The Supreme Court could rule on the challengers' requests at any time after they submit replies to Texas's brief.