Children and youth

Supreme Court Declines to Block Texas App Store Law

Is this a constitutional disaster or a necessary safeguard for children?

Published JUL 7

Supreme Court Declines to Block Texas App Store Law

Story

Above: Students with cell phones during a protest in Houston, Texas on Oct. 26, 2023. Image credit: Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle/Getty Images

The Facts

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to block Texas from enforcing the App Store Accountability Act, which requires app stores to verify users' ages and obtain parental consent before minors can download apps or make in-app purchases.
CNN
Newsmax
Justice Samuel Alito issued a pair of one-sentence orders denying the emergency petitions. The unsigned ruling contained no noted dissents and offered no explanation, allowing the law to remain in effect while litigation continues in lower courts.
Al Jazeera
Breitbart
The law was signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in 2025 and requires app store accounts for users under 18 to be linked to a parent or guardian, who must approve each download after being notified of the app's age rating.
NPR
Shai Akabas
The challenge was brought by the Computer & Communications Industry Association, whose members include Apple, Google and Meta, and Students Engaged in Advancing Texas. A bipartisan group of 27 state attorneys general filed an amicus brief in support of the law.
The Epoch Times
Politico
A federal district court blocked the law in December 2025, with Judge Robert Pitman finding it likely violated the First Amendment. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals then lifted that injunction in June, allowing enforcement to resume.
WTOP
The Washington Examiner
The ruling follows the Supreme Court's 6-3 decision last year upholding a separate Texas law requiring age verification for pornographic websites. Texas is one of at least 20 states that have passed or considered similar age-verification laws for electronic devices.
The Washington Times
The New York Times

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The Spin

Establishment-critical narrative

Age verification mandates at the app store level are a constitutional disaster waiting to happen. Forcing everyone to show ID before downloading a newspaper or streaming app is no different from stationing a guard at a bookstore entrance — it burdens protected speech for all adults, not just minors. Parental controls like Apple Screen Time and Google Family Link already exist, making sweeping verification laws unnecessary and legally indefensible.

Techlore on X

Chamber of Progress

Pro-establishment narrative

App stores are marketplaces, and knowing who your customers are before completing a sale is basic accountability. Texas's App Store Accountability Act doesn't ban a single app — it simply requires parental approval before minors download content, mirroring age-verification standards already applied at convenience stores. With 80% of Texas parents backing the law and 93% of the state House voting yes, dismissing this as a First Amendment crisis ignores what families actually want.

Heritage Foundation on X

Fort Worth Star-Telegram