TEXAS — A federal appeals court allowed Texas’ app age verification law to go into effect by issuing an administrative stay that temporarily blocks a lower court’s injunction. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals halted a temporary injunction issued in December by U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman, who had found that Senate Bill 2420 likely violates the First Amendment.

Senate Bill 2420, scheduled to take effect January 1, requires app marketplace operators to verify all users’ ages and obtain parental consent before a person under 18 can download apps or make in-app purchases. The law also mandates that app developers assign their apps to one of four age categories: children under 13, teens aged 13–15, older teens aged 16–17, or adults 18 or older.

The Computer & Communications Industry Association and Students Engaged in Advancing Texas filed separate lawsuits in October challenging the law on First Amendment grounds. The plaintiffs argued that SB 2420 restricts an enormous amount of online speech in violation of the First Amendment. Pitman, in a 20-page ruling, compared the law to “requiring every bookstore to verify the age of every customer at the door and, for minors, require parental consent before entering and again when purchasing a book.” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office appealed the injunction in late December, arguing in court filings that the state has the right to regulate transactions between minors and app marketplaces that occur in Texas.

Cameron Samuels, co-founder and executive director of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, wrote in a statement that students have just as much a right to access information as adults, and this law denies them that access. The 5th Circuit panel did not explain its reasoning for the administrative stay, which can still be reversed by the appeals court upon further review.