According to Reuters, a new law in Mississippi that mandates social media users to verify their ages and limits access to minors without parental consent has been blocked by a federal judge. The judge deemed the law to be possibly unconstitutional and halted its enforcement on Monday.
In Gulfport, Mississippi, U.S. District Judge Halil Suleyman Ozerden has ruled in favor of NetChoice, a tech industry trade group, stating that the law unfairly limited the free speech rights of its users in violation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
In the ongoing efforts of lawmakers to address the increasing concerns regarding the potential harm of social media to children’s mental health, the latest ruling involved the blocking of a state law aimed at safeguarding young people online. This decision is one of many such rulings that have taken place recently.
Starting Monday, all users were required to verify their ages before opening an account. Additionally, minors under 18 were required to obtain parental consent to open an account.
In June, NetChoice, comprising members like Facebook and Instagram owned by Meta, YouTube owned by Alphabet, Snapchat owned by Snap Inc, and X owned by Elon Musk, filed a lawsuit against the law, H.B. 1126. The law was signed by Republican Governor Tate Reeves. The lawsuit claims that the law hinders the free speech of users and puts the burden of speech censorship on online businesses.
Agreeing with this sentiment, Ozerden, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush, stated that the applications of H.B. 1126 are likely unconstitutional when judged in light of its intended scope.
According to him, the adults’ rights were being burdened by the law since they were asked to verify their ages before being allowed to create accounts for accessing a wide range of speech protected by the First Amendment, on various covered websites.
According to the judge, the law was deemed to be excessively broad due to its requirement of parental consent for minors, regardless of their age and level of maturity.
In a statement, Chris Marchese, the director of the NetChoice Litigation Center, expressed his approval of the ruling, stating that it effectively prevented Mississippi’s law from restricting online speech, inhibiting access to legitimate information, and jeopardizing user privacy and security. He also noted that this decision would aid in the progression of their case.
Requests for comment made to the spokespeople of Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, a Republican who defended the law, went unanswered.
In the past, NetChoice has successfully obtained court rulings that prevented the implementation of comparable laws in Arkansas and Ohio, which required parental consent for social media use, as well as a children’s digital privacy law in California.
