Washington – The Computer & Communications Industry Association has filed a complaint today and a motion for a preliminary injunction in Texas federal court challenging HB18, which attempts to age-gate the internet. Texas’s latest attempt to regulate online speech — its online age verification and parental consent law — is scheduled to take effect September 1. CCIA demonstrates, along with co-Plaintiff NetChoice, that blocking access to information violates the First Amendment, as does a governmental mandate forcing websites to gather personal information about minors and adults to verify users’ ages and family relationship.
On July 1, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court found that HB20, Texas’s 2021 social media law, raises First Amendment issues in the combined opinion in Moody and Paxton, which returned CCIA’s and NetChoice’s challenges back to lower courts for additional review.
The following can be attributed to CCIA Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff Stephanie Joyce:
“Texas HB18 violates websites’ ability to distribute protected speech and prevents younger internet users from accessing valuable information. Our argument is based on well-established federal law, including recent decisions blocking similar laws from other states. At a time when Americans’ access to online information is at a premium, laws like HB18 will restrict the ability of both minors and adults to get online while also putting their privacy at risk. CCIA members remain committed to child online safety and for years have invested significant resources toward that goal. We look forward to demonstrating in court why this law is unconstitutional.”
