The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to intervene in a lower court decision that affirmed a Mississippi law requiring users to verify their ages before using social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.
The Mississippi law is far broader than a Supreme Court ruling just weeks ago that upheld a Texas law mandating age verification to access websites with sexually explicit material. Writing for the court's conservative supermajority in June, Justice Clarence Thomas held that requiring adults to verify their age prior to using sexually explicit sites did not violate the First Amendment's free speech clause because it is important to shield "children from sexually explicit content."
In contrast, the Mississippi law requires all users to verify their ages before using common social media sites ranging from Facebook to Nextdoor, a social media site that connects people to their nearby neighbors.
In addition to the age verification rule, the Mississippi law requires social media websites to work to prevent children from accessing "harmful materials" and prohibits minors from using social media websites, such as Instagram and YouTube, without parental consent.
NetChoice, a tech industry association committed to "protecting online freedom," sued, arguing that the law unconstitutionally restricts nine of its member websites, including those mentioned above: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Nextdoor and YouTube.
NetChoice argued that the law violates the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech without governmental interference. The "monitoring-and-censorship requirements for vague categories of speech," NetChoice argued, limits individuals' access to important information, ranging from university professors' online lectures to statements from political leaders, and other creative content.
Though it is within parents' interests to protect their children from harmful content, said NetChoice, there are other tools — such as web browser parental controls — that parents can use to regulate their children's online use.
A District Court agreed with NetChoice, temporarily stopping the Mississippi law from going into effect while proceedings continued in the lower courts. But the conservative 5th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the temporary block, without addressing whether the law violates the First Amendment.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh concurred with the court's order Thursday but wrote: "In short, under this Court's case law as it currently stands, the Mississippi law is likely unconstitutional. Nonetheless, because NetChoice has not sufficiently demonstrated that the balance of harms and equities favors it at this time, I concur in the Court's denial of the application for interim relief."
The Supreme Court refused to block the 5th Circuit's decision, allowing, at least temporarily, for the Mississippi law to go into effect.
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