AUSTIN — Texas urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to maintain an order by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit concerning a state law on app access for minors. The law, known as the App Store Accountability Act or SB 2420, imposes age-verification and parental-consent requirements on minors' access to apps and paid content within those apps.

The Texas Legislature enacted SB 2420 in 2025, and it was scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2026. William Peterson, Texas Solicitor General, said, "The modern digital world is different from the physical world." He added, "The law is required because, in the digital world, children can access any conceivable content without parental consent or even parental knowledge." Half of the U.S. states have similar age-verification requirements for minors.

Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, two teenagers, and the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) challenged the law in federal court in Austin, Texas. Students Engaged in Advancing Texas stated its members use mobile apps to teach other children how to engage in policymaking. The CCIA is a trade group representing app stores and app developers. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman temporarily barred Texas from enforcing the law in December 2025.

The 5th Circuit paused Judge Pitman's orders on June 4, 2026, ruling he was likely incorrect to apply strict scrutiny to the law. The court stated that SB 2420 regulates speech that proposes a commercial transaction, which is subject to intermediate scrutiny. This level of scrutiny requires Texas to demonstrate a reasonable fit between its goal and corresponding restrictions. The 5th Circuit also stated that requiring age verification, parental consent, and app-related content ratings likely directly and materially advances Texas's interest in protecting children's data, safety, and privacy in a digital world.

The challengers asked the Supreme Court last week to reinstate Judge Pitman's orders. Students Engaged in Advancing Texas argued that the 5th Circuit's decision would classify virtually the entire internet as commercial speech that the government could more easily restrict or ban, stating, "That is clearly wrong." The students also argued that Texas already protects children from accessing adult content online and that the law's goal of protecting children from harmful content is not a valid government interest. The CCIA contended that the 5th Circuit's decision exposes app stores and millions of app developers to potential liability and compliance costs.

Texas argued in its brief that Judge Pitman applied the wrong legal standard in determining SB 2420 likely violates the First Amendment. Texas stated, "SB2420 serves the purpose of empowering parents to control their children's upbringing by deciding which software applications their children should access and to which contractual terms their children should agree." The state also argued that Judge Pitman's orders are barred by the Supreme Court's 2025 ruling in Trump v. CASA, which found that nationwide or universal injunctions likely exceed a district court's power. Texas noted that the orders in this case prevent the Attorney General from enforcing SB 2420 against anyone, not just the challengers. The challengers will have an opportunity to file replies to Texas' brief.