• by Wendy Davis , July 6, 2026

The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected emergency requests to immediately pause a Texas law requiring Google and Apple to verify users' ages and prevent minors under 18 from downloading apps or making in-app purchases, without parental consent.

As is customary with orders issued on the court's emergency docket, the court didn't give a reason for its decision. 

The move leaves in place a decision by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which said last month that Texas could enforce the App Store Accountability Act (SB 2420) while litigation over the law's constitutionality proceeds.

The tech group Computer & Communications Industry Association and student organization Students Engaged in Advancing Texas sued to strike down the law (SB 2420) as unconstitutional.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert Pitman in Austin blocked the Texas App Store Accountability Act on First Amendment grounds last year, but a panel of the conservative 5th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the block in May and allowed the law to go into effect.

The tech industry and student group then filed separate petitions asking the Supreme Court to reinstate the block on an emergency basis.

"Each day SB 2420 is in force, minors are denied access to news, educational content, and platforms for creative expression," the student group argued.

"In the lead-up to the midterm elections, SEAT members cannot wait to engage in political advocacy and outreach until their parents approve their downloads (if they do so at all) or until they age out of the requirements," they added.

The Computer & Communications Industry Association argued in a separate petition that a "brick-and-mortar analog" to the law would not be constitutional.

"Imagine a state law that required every business -- every bookstore, movie theater, video rental store, record shop, symphony hall, arcade, newsstand, and so on -- to verify the age of every patron at the door and then required parental consent before those under 18 could enter," the tech group argued.

It added: "Once inside, the parent would have to separately provide consent for every item the minor wished to buy, be it a book by Ernest Hemingway or J.K. Rowling, a Taylor Swift album, or a subscription to National Geographic."

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton countered that the law regulates "contracts" between minors and app stores or developers, and imposes only an "incidental burden" on speech.

"In the same way that the State can deny drivers’ licenses to children under sixteen, even though some fourteen-year-olds may wish to drive to a bookstore and purchase a book, the State can restrict children’s downloads of software applications to mobile devices as a product category, even if some children may wish to use applications to engage in expressive conduct," he argued.

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals' May ruling that allowed the law to go into effect was issued on a temporary basis. The court is expected to hold further proceedings in the case next month, after which it could still block the Texas law.

Matt Schruers, president and CEO of the Computer and Communications Industry Association, stated Tuesday: “We look forward to an expedited hearing before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in early August to demonstrate how Texas’ App Store Accountability Act violates the First Amendment. People should not have to turn over personal data to access the internet any more than they should show government identification to enter a bookstore.”