The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to temporarily halt the implementation of a Mississippi law that aims to control children’s use of social media, a matter of increasing national concern.
An urgent appeal by a digital industry group that represents well-known websites like Facebook, X, and YouTube was denied by the court.
Laws requiring social media users to confirm their ages have been approved in Mississippi and other states.
NetChoice is contesting these laws and has requested the court to halt the legislation while the litigation is pending.
The order was brief and unsigned, with no significant dissents.
There’s a significant likelihood that NetChoice will eventually prove that the statute is illegal, according to Justice Brett Kavanaugh, but he hasn’t demonstrated that it has to be blocked while the case is pending.
According to NetChoice, the Mississippi law unconstitutionally limits the freedom of expression of users of all ages and jeopardizes privacy rights.
In agreement, a federal judge blocked the 2024 law’s implementation.
However, the statute might be implemented while the lawsuit is pending, according to a July ruling by a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
As court challenges against similar laws are being heard in places around the nation, this is the most recent legal development.
Concern about the impact of social media use on young people is growing among parents and even some teenagers.
The new restrictions, according to their supporters, are necessary to help stop young people’s excessive use of social media and what academics claim is a rise in anxiety and sadness.
Age verification, according to Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, might shield children from “sexual abuse, trafficking, physical violence, sextortion, and more,” which Fitch pointed out are not covered by the First Amendment.
Some of the most well-known tech firms in the nation are represented by NetChoice, including Google, the parent company of YouTube; Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat; and Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.
Similar lawsuits have been brought by NetChoice in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, and Utah.
The ruling was described as “an unfortunate procedural delay” by Paul Taske, co-director of the NetChoice Litigation Center.
Justice Kavanaugh’s concurrence, he added, “makes clear that NetChoice will ultimately succeed in defending the First Amendment—not just in this case but across all of NetChoice’s ID-for-Speech lawsuits,” despite the Court’s ruling, which upset them.
