What is the Texas law SB 2420 about?

SB 2420, also known as the App Store Accountability Act, requires app stores to verify the age of users and mandates that minors link their app accounts to a parent or guardian for consent before downloading apps or making in-app purchases.

What is the primary argument against the Texas law?

The primary argument is that the law violates the First Amendment by unconstitutionally compelling app stores to regulate access to online speech and forcing the public to document age and identity to access lawful information.

CCIA Petitions Supreme Court to Block Texas Age Verification Law

Q: Which groups have challenged Texas's SB 2420?

Two advocacy groups, Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT) and the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to block the enforcement of SB 2420.

Q: What was the Fifth Circuit Court's decision regarding the law?

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit agreed that Texas had a "substantial" interest in protecting children by enforcing the law, lifting an earlier injunction and allowing the law to go into effect.

Two advocacy groups, including CCIA, have petitioned the Supreme Court to block a Texas law requiring age verification for app store access. They argue it violates the First Amendment.

Two advocacy groups have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) to temporarily block the enforcement of a Texas law requiring age verification for app store access. These separate complaints argue that the law, Senate Bill (SB) 2420, violates the First Amendment.

The petitions were filed last week by Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT), a student activist group, and the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), a technology industry trade group. Both organizations requested an emergency stay of enforcement for SB 2420, also known as the App Store Accountability Act.

The CCIA, whose members include Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon, AirBnB, and Uber, filed an emergency request on Monday with Justice Samuel Alito. The request seeks to vacate an order by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which allowed Texas’ App Store Accountability Act to go into effect earlier this month. The law mandates that app stores verify the age of users and requires minors to link their app accounts to a parent or guardian, who must provide consent before they can download apps or make in-app purchases.

The CCIA argues that the law unconstitutionally compels app stores to regulate access to "vast amounts of online speech" for both minors and adults. Matt Schruers, President and CEO of the CCIA, stated that the Texas law would force the public to document age and identity to access lawful information. He added that users should not be required to provide ID to download apps, and that the First Amendment protects the rights of app stores and app developers to disseminate lawful speech to users who have an equal right to access it. Schruers also noted that parents, not governments, should retain the ability to make decisions about their children’s use of technology.

Legal Challenges and Precedent

The App Store Accountability Act, passed last year, has faced legal challenges since its inception. In December 2025, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman, appointed by President Barack Obama, blocked the Texas law, ruling it a likely violation of the First Amendment. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton then sought relief from the Fifth Circuit, which subsequently agreed that the state had a "substantial" interest in protecting children by enforcing the law, lifting the injunction last week.

The CCIA is represented in the suit by Wilson Sonsini, Haynes and Boone, and Cooley LLP. Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, a youth education nonprofit, is also seeking to vacate the Fifth Circuit’s order and is represented by Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. The court has requested a response from Texas by June 22 at 4 p.m. The cases are identified as Computer & Communications Industry Association v. Paxton, U.S., No. 25A1390.

These attempts to block the Texas law come just over three years after the Free Speech Coalition, an adult industry trade group, and the parent companies of major adult tube sites filed a lawsuit against Texas. That lawsuit targeted similar legislation requiring website-level age checks for adult entertainment platforms.

Scope of the Texas Law

In addition to prohibiting minors from downloading apps without parental consent, the App Store Accountability Act also requires developers to categorize their apps based on age appropriateness. Developers must indicate whether their apps are suitable for children under 13, young teens (ages 13-15), older teens (ages 16-17), or adults 18 and older. The statute further mandates that app developers specify whether particular in-app purchases are appropriate for these same age categories.

The CCIA’s brief argues that the Texas app store law violates the First Amendment by imposing government controls over protected speech and access to lawful information through age verification and parental consent requirements. The organization contends that the Justices should prioritize the Constitution by blocking the law’s enforcement. The CCIA is suing the State of Texas to permanently strike SB 2420, characterizing it as an unconstitutional, sweeping age-verification, parental consent, and compelled speech regime for both app stores and app developers. The CCIA also states that the law is an unjustifiable restriction of speech and a needless mandate for users to provide personal information to companies.

Other states have enacted similar laws. Alabama, Louisiana, and Utah have passed comparable legislation. California has also enacted a law requiring operating systems to communicate the age range of users to apps for compliance with child safety laws.

Key Facts

Two groups, Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT) and the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), petitioned SCOTUS to block a Texas app store age verification law.
The law, Senate Bill (SB) 2420 or the App Store Accountability Act, requires age verification for app store access and parental consent for minors to download apps or make in-app purchases.
The CCIA, representing companies like Google and Apple, argues the law violates the First Amendment by restricting access to lawful speech.
U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman initially blocked the law in December 2025, but the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the injunction earlier this month.
The law also mandates app developers to categorize apps and in-app purchases by age appropriateness.
The CCIA and SEAT have requested an emergency stay of enforcement from SCOTUS.