Students and Tech Giants Sue Texas Over Law Requiring Age Verification for App Downloads
America ı By Rochdi Rais
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A student advocacy group and two Texas high school students have joined forces with some of the nation’s largest tech companies to challenge a new Texas law that would require mobile app store operators to verify users’ ages and block minors from downloading or purchasing apps without parental consent. The lawsuits, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, claim the measure violates the First Amendment and imposes unconstitutional restrictions on access to speech and information.
Dual Lawsuits Challenge Texas App Store Accountability Act
The student plaintiffs, represented by Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT), filed one lawsuit the same day that the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) — whose members include Google, Apple, Meta Platforms Inc., and Amazon — filed a parallel challenge. Both suits target S.B. 2420, the Texas App Store Accountability Act, which is slated to take effect January 1, 2026.
Under the law, app store operators must:
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Verify every user’s age before allowing downloads or purchases;
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Categorize users into age brackets: under 13, 13–15, 16–17, and 18 and over; and
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Require parental consent for any downloads or in-app purchases made by users under 18.
Plaintiffs argue the statute’s scope is sweeping — covering not just social media platforms but also educational, creative, and informational tools such as Wikipedia, Kindle, Audible, messaging apps, browsers, and news applications.
Students: Law “Replaces Parents’ Freedom” With State Control
In their complaint, the students said the law unlawfully imposes “content-based prior restraints on speech”, effectively substituting the state’s judgment for that of parents.
“Just as the government could not compel a bookstore to screen patrons and stop minors from purchasing any book without parental approval,” the plaintiffs wrote, “the state cannot ban minors from downloading digital content through app stores or within apps without parental consent.”
The students emphasized that the law undermines parental authority by forcing parents to approve every digital interaction their children have, even in families where parents value their children’s privacy and autonomy. One plaintiff’s mother, quoted in the filing, said the law would “effectively override her parental decision-making.”
They further contend that mandatory age verification through government-issued IDs or similar methods will compel Texans to surrender sensitive personal information, heightening the risk of data breaches and privacy violations.
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