Supreme Court Lets Texas Force App Stores to Verify Every User's Age, Dealing Apple and Google a Defeat

The U.S. Supreme Court this week cleared the way for Texas to enforce a first-in-the-nation law requiring app stores to verify their users' ages and obtain a parent's consent before minors can download apps or make in-app purchases, delivering a setback to Apple, Google and the broader tech industry.

The justices, acting through unsigned emergency orders with no publicly noted dissents, declined to reinstate lower-court injunctions that had put the Texas App Store Accountability Act, known as SB 2420, on hold. The ruling allows the statute to take effect while legal challenges grind through the courts, making Texas the testing ground for a model that other states have watched closely.

Under the law, app-store operators must confirm the age of every user and route accounts held by anyone under 18 through a parent or guardian. Before a minor can install an app or buy digital content, the parent must be notified of the app's age rating and provide explicit digital approval. Supporters describe it as a commonsense guardrail for a generation raised on smartphones; opponents call it a sweeping mandate that forces adults and children alike to hand over identifying information simply to reach lawful content.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has made online child-safety enforcement a signature issue, cast the decision as a vindication. "Texas has not only the right, but the duty, to protect children from the harms of our modern digital space," Paxton wrote in a statement defending the measure. State officials argue the law shifts responsibility onto the platforms that profit from young users while giving parents a clearer say over what their children can access.

The challengers include a youth-advocacy group, Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, and the Computer & Communications Industry Association, a trade group whose members include the largest technology companies. They contend the requirements violate the First Amendment by burdening protected speech and compelling age verification as a precondition for obtaining information, and they warn that mandatory identity checks create privacy and security risks for tens of millions of users.

Because the court acted on its emergency docket rather than issuing a full merits opinion, the order does not settle the underlying constitutional questions, which will continue to be litigated in the lower courts. But by refusing to block the law, the justices allowed Texas to begin enforcement immediately — a practical outcome that could reshape how app stores operate nationwide as companies weigh whether to build Texas-specific systems or apply the new rules more broadly.