Supreme Court declines to block Texas law requiring parental consent for app downloads

The law

Texas's App Store Accountability Act, signed by Governor Greg Abbott in 2025, requires app store operators like Apple and Google to verify users' ages. For anyone under 18, a parent or guardian must be notified of an app's age rating and give consent before it can be downloaded or any in-app purchase made. The law applies to all apps, from calculators to social media. Attorney General Ken Paxton noted that before downloading apps, children can agree to terms of service that may allow location tracking, data selling, or waive the right to sue. The measure is part of a wave of similar legislation: California, Louisiana, and Utah have passed comparable laws, and around 20 states have considered them.

The legal challenge

A coalition of two students, the advocacy group Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, and the Computer & Communications Industry Association (whose members include Apple, Google, and Meta) sued to block the law. They argue it violates the First Amendment by forcing age verification before accessing online content.

No state has ever required its citizens to prove their age before reading a newspaper, entering a bookstore, or even accessing the internet. The Texas law does exactly that -- for every mobile app on every mobile phone.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defended the law as a parental rights measure, telling the court that it allows parents to direct their children's upbringing in the modern digital world. The state's solicitor general, William Peterson, argued that children can access "any conceivable content" online without parental knowledge.

The court's path

The law was set to take effect on January 1, 2026, but US District Judge Robert Pitman temporarily blocked it in December 2025. He wrote that the measure was "akin to a law that would require every bookstore to verify the age of every customer at the door" and then require parental consent for minors to buy a book. In June 2026, a panel of the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals stayed that ruling, finding that Texas has a "substantial, if not compelling, interest in protecting children" and that parents need information to make informed choices.

Supreme Court order

On Monday, the Supreme Court issued a brief, unsigned order declining to intervene. The justices did not explain their reasoning, and there were no noted dissents. The decision leaves the appeals court's ruling in place, meaning Texas can enforce the law while the constitutional challenge proceeds in the lower courts. The order is temporary and does not resolve the underlying First Amendment questions. It came in response to an emergency request from the tech companies and students who had asked the justices to block the law.

Broader implications

The case is the latest flashpoint in a growing push to regulate children's online access. Last year, the Supreme Court upheld a separate Texas law requiring age verification for porn sites. Tech companies argue they already offer parental controls that allow screen time limits, content filters, and purchase approvals. Critics of the Texas app store law say it deputizes private companies to police speech, while supporters frame it as a necessary tool for parents in an era when smartphones give children unrestricted access to the internet.