Tennessee AG: Mississippi Ruling Justifies State's Age-Verification Law
The recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court not to block Mississippi’s social-media law from taking effect (see 2508140048) means that a similar Tennessee law should not be blocked, either, argued Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti (R) on Friday.
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Earlier this year, trade association NetChoice challenged HB-1891, which requires social media companies to verify the age of account holders, and gain parental consent from users younger than 18 (see 2501060056).
The U.S. District Court for Middle Tennessee declined to block the law in case 3:24-cv-01191 (see 2506200017). NetChoice appealed that case to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The order in the Mississippi case, NetChoice v. Fitch, “confirms what the district court found below: NetChoice cannot justify the suspension of Tennessee’s democratically enacted effort to protect kids from the predations of social media,” Skrmetti said in case 25-5660.
The AG added that Tennessee's law “lets social-media companies decide how to comply with the age-verification requirement, but it protects privacy by prohibiting them from ‘retain[ing] personally identifying information.’”
Skrmetti also argued the law is not content based, so it doesn't violate the First Amendment.
Although courts have blocked age verification laws in other states, including Florida (see 2506040049), Arkansas (see 2504020033) and Ohio (see 2504180031), Skrmetti has argued those examples don't apply in the Tennessee case (see 2506170028, 2505010041 and 2504150030).
In a press release Monday, Skrmetti said the law "requires social media companies to implement common-sense features that let parents protect their kids," but "does not control what anyone can say or not say online."