The US Supreme Court has recently made a significant decision by refusing to suspend a controversial Mississippi law that mandates age verification for social media users, as well as parental consent for minors. This ruling allows the law to remain in effect while ongoing legal challenges proceed in lower courts.
Key Facts
- The law requires social media platforms to confirm the age of users and obtain parental consent for users under 18.
- Justice Brett Kavanaugh noted the law might be unconstitutional but emphasized that the threshold for a pre-trial block was not met by NetChoice.
- NetChoice, representing tech giants like Meta and Alphabet, argues that the law infringes on free speech protections.
Background
The Mississippi law, unanimously passed by the state legislature, aims to mitigate the negative impacts of social media on children’s mental health. The law stipulates that platforms must make ‘commercially reasonable’ efforts to verify users’ ages and requires parental consent for minors to create accounts. The state can enforce civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation, along with potential criminal charges under deceptive trade practices laws.
Timeline/What We Know
NetChoice initiated a federal lawsuit in 2024 to overturn the law. However, the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the law to take effect even after a district judge deemed it likely unconstitutional. This prompted NetChoice to escalate the matter to the Supreme Court, marking the first instance the court was asked to evaluate a social media age-verification statute.
Official Reactions
Justice Kavanaugh, in his statement, hinted at the potential unconstitutionality of the law but highlighted that the procedural standards to block the law prematurely were not satisfied. Meanwhile, Paul Taske from NetChoice expressed confidence in eventually overturning the law despite describing the Supreme Court’s decision as a ‘procedural delay.’
What’s Next
The legal battle will continue to unfold in the lower courts. Meanwhile, the implementation of the law could set a precedent for how similar laws are treated across the United States, particularly as other states like Texas have begun enacting similar age-verification requirements for digital services.