U.S. District Judge Halil Suleyman Ozerden in Gulfport,
Mississippi, sided with tech industry trade group NetChoice in
finding the law unduly restricted its users' free speech rights
in violation of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment.
It marked the latest ruling in which a court blocked a state law
designed to protect young people online as lawmakers nationwide
look for ways to address rising concerns about the dangers posed
by social media to the mental health of children.
The measure, which was set to take effect on Monday, required
all users to verify their ages before they could open accounts
and required minors under 18 to obtain parental consent to do
so.
NetChoice, whose members include Meta's Facebook and Instagram,
Alphabet's YouTube, Snap Inc's Snapchat and Elon Musk's X, sued
in June, arguing the law, H.B. 1126, signed into law by
Republican Governor Tate Reeves, stifled users' free speech and
would force online businesses to censor speech.
Ozerden, an appointee of Republican former President George W.
Bush, agreed, saying "that a substantial number, if not all, of
H.B. 1126’s applications are unconstitutional judged in relation
to its legitimate sweep."
He said the law burdened adults' rights by requiring them to
verify their ages before creating accounts to access a broad
range of speech protected by the First Amendment and on a broad
range of covered websites.
The judge also faulted the law as overly broad because it
required parental consent for minors "regardless of age and
level of maturity."
Chris Marchese, director of the NetChoice Litigation Center, in
a statement welcomed the ruling, saying it "stopped
Mississippi’s law from censoring online speech, limiting access
to lawful information and undermining user privacy and security
as our case proceeds."
Spokespeople for Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, a
Republican who defended the law, did not respond to requests for
comment.
NetChoice has previously won court rulings blocking a similar
social media parental consent laws in Arkansas and Ohio and a
children's digital privacy law in California.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Alexia
Garamfalvi and Stephen Coates)
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