Fifth Circuit Rules Texas App Store Age Verification Law Likely Constitutional

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, in Students Engaged in Advancing Texas v. Paxton, ruled that Texas Senate Bill 2420, the App Store Accountability Act, is likely to survive constitutional challenge and granted Texas a stay pending appeal of a district court injunction. The law, passed with bipartisan support, requires app stores to implement age verification, obtain parental consent for minors' downloads and in-app purchases, and display age ratings and content information. The appellate panel, composed of Judges Jerry Smith and Andrew Oldham, found the district court likely erred in applying strict scrutiny, reasoning that app store listings constitute commercial speech proposing transactions and are therefore subject to intermediate scrutiny under the Central Hudson standard. The court further held that the law likely satisfies intermediate scrutiny because it advances Texas's substantial interest in protecting children's data, safety, and privacy without burdening substantially more speech than necessary. The panel also addressed and largely upheld the law's exception for emergency services apps, finding it not unconstitutionally content-based. The decision does not constitute a final ruling on the merits but signals the law has a strong likelihood of being upheld on appeal.