Texas app store age verification law can take effect, appeals court rules

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08 January 2019, Hessen, Rüsselsheim: ILLUSTRATION - The App Store (M) logo can be seen on the screen of an iPhone. Photo: Silas Stein/dpa (Photo by Silas Stein/picture alliance via Getty Images)

A Texas law aimed at keeping minors from using app stores with an adult's consent can take effect while the appeal process plays out, an appeals court ruled.

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday handed down an order that stays an injunction issued last year by U.S. District Court Judge Robert Pitman in Austin. In Pitman's ruling last year, he said the law and its restrictions likely violate the First Amendment.

The three-judge panel gave no reason behind the order to stay the injunction, just that it was stayed while they consider the motion filed by the Texas Attorney General's Office. The deadline for the state to file written arguments in favor of the motion is June 2.

Texas app store law

The backstory:

Senate Bill 2420 was originally set to take effect on Jan. 1, requiring anyone under the age of 18 in Texas to get parental consent to download an app or make an in-app purchase. The law would require developers to say whether their apps are appropriate for children under 13, young teens, older teens or adults age 18 and older.

The law was challenged in court by the tech group Computer and Communications Industry Association on behalf of operators of app stores (like Google, Apple, and Amazon) and developers of mobile apps (like YouTube, Audible, Apple TV, IMDB, and Goodreads) claiming the law violated the First Amendment.

Numerous companies and groups, including The Associated Press, The New York Times Company and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, weigh in against the law.

Pitman sided with the CCIA in December saying the law was "akin to a law that would require every bookstore to verify the age of every customer at the door and, for minors, require parental consent before the child or teen could enter and again when they try to purchase a book."

The other side:

Several advocacy groups submitted briefs in support of the law, calling it a "critical step toward ensuring transparency, accountability, and parental authority over Texas children’s online experience."

"For too long, app stores have operated as digital gatekeepers with little accountability, allowing children to download apps and enter complex contracts with billion-dollar corporations without a parent ever knowing. These agreements often give apps sweeping access to kids’ personal data—photos, contact lists, exact locations, even their voices—without their parents even knowing, and without meaningful safeguards," the groups said.