A federal judge in Texas has blocked a state law that would have required app stores to implement age verification and parental consent mechanisms for users under 18. On December 23, 2025, the US District Court for the Western District of Texas granted a preliminary injunction preventing Senate Bill 2420, known as the Texas App Store Accountability Act, from taking effect on January 1, 2026.
The lawsuit was brought by the Computer & Communications Industry Association against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his official capacity. The court held a hearing on December 16 and consolidated the matter with a related case brought by Students Engaged in Advancing Texas and other plaintiffs. In its order, the court found that the challengers were likely to succeed on their claim that the law violates the First Amendment.
As described in the court’s decision and in the enrolled bill text, SB 2420 would have required app stores to verify a user’s age before allowing the download of applications or access to paid in-app content. For minors, the law mandated parental verification and parental consent. The statute defined four age categories, ranging from under 13 to adults, and required app developers to assign age ratings to both apps and in-app purchases.
The law also imposed disclosure obligations, requiring app stores to display age ratings along with the specific content or elements that led to those ratings. App stores would have been required to provide developers with access to information about a user’s age category and whether parental consent had been obtained, creating new data-sharing flows between platforms and developers.
In granting the injunction, the judge compared the law’s effect to requiring every customer to prove their age before entering a bookstore, and requiring minors to obtain parental consent both to enter and to make a purchase. The court characterized the statute as imposing age verification, parental verification, parental consent requirements, and compelled speech on app stores and developers, and concluded that these requirements likely run afoul of constitutional protections.
While SB 2420 included provisions calling for minimization of personal data and transmission using industry-standard encryption, the court’s ruling means the law will not be enforced while the case proceeds. The decision represents a significant development for digital identity and age assurance debates in the United States, particularly as states explore regulatory approaches that rely on identity verification technologies. The ruling follows a pattern of First Amendment challenges to age verification laws, with courts across multiple states expressing concern about constitutional implications.
Sources: Texas Public Radio, Reuters, Texas Scorecard, Texas Legislature
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
