Washington – A federal court rejected the Texas Attorney General’s effort to ‘unpause’ the state’s controversial App Store Accountability Act today.
Judge Robert Pitman declined to stay a preliminary injunction blocking the law, Texas SB2420, from being enforced until the Computer & Communications Industry Association’s constitutional challenge is fully resolved. Judge Pitman, who first blocked the App Store Accountability Act on December 23, 2025, reiterated his conclusion that the law likely violates the First Amendment and must not be enforced.
In addition to attempting to nullify the December 23 decision, Texas has also filed an appeal of that decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Today’s ruling means that SB2420 remains blocked while Texas attempts to defend its law.
CCIA is suing the State of Texas to permanently strike SB2420, which would impose an unconstitutional, sweeping age-verification, parental consent, and compelled speech regime on both app stores and app developers. This law is not only an unjustifiable restriction of speech but also a needless mandate for users to hand over personal information.
The following can be attributed to CCIA President & CEO Matt Schruers:
“Texas gave the court no plausible grounds to subject lawful online content to the state’s onerous age-rating, age-gating regime. The First Amendment protects the rights of app stores and app developers to display lawful speech to users who have an equal right to access it. This ruling ensures that parents – not the states – retain the ability to make decisions about their children’s use of technology.”
