Federal Court Blocks Texas App Store Accountability Act From Taking Effect Jan. 1
A U.S. district court Tuesday granted a preliminary injunction against Texas’s App Store Accountability Act, blocking it from going into effect as intended on Jan. 1. The U.S. District Court for Western Texas ruled the law likely violates the First Amendment.
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“It is far from clear that Texas has a compelling interest in preventing minors’ access to every single category of speech restricted by SB 2420,” said Judge Robert Pitman. Further, the law “is not narrowly tailored,” so it “fails strict scrutiny.” Its requirements “exclusively target speech,” meaning that “SB 2420 is unconstitutional in the vast majority of its applications” due to the First Amendment.
Additionally, some provisions are “impermissibly vague,” as they hold developers and app stores “liable for knowingly misrepresenting an age rating” without providing “meaningful guidance” as to determining app age ratings, the judge added.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association sued Texas over the law in October (see 2510160034), which started case 1:25-cv-01660. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) has defended the measure as constitutional (see 2511200039).