Texas: Judge blocks parts of child online safety act

In a recent ruling, a Texas judge temporarily suspended portions of the state's SCOPE (Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment) Act, citing that certain provisions of the rule "prohibit minors from engaging in the democratic exchange" of ideas. The law was to take effect September 1.

The law was intended to protect minors from harmful content on the internet and required platforms to verify the age of users and restrict access to potentially harmful content. However, some groups, such as Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), argued that the law could restrict free speech as it did not adequately differentiate between content aimed at minors and content aimed at adults.

"Monitoring and filtering" provisions blocked

Judge Robert Pitman issued in the ruling a block on the "monitoring and filtering" provisions of the rule through the SCOPE Act.

The SCOPE Act places requirements on digital platforms ranging from implementing age verification methods, restricting data collection and sharing of minors' personal information, to preventing financial transactions by minors.

Pitman's ruling does allow the rest of the law to go into effect (this includes prohibiting geolocation data and targeted advertising to minors). The judge noted in the opinion:

"In its attempt to prevent children from accessing harmful content, Texas also prohibits minors from participating in the democratic exchange of views online (...) Even accepting that Texas only wishes to prohibit the most harmful pieces of content, a state cannot pick and choose which categories of protected speech it wishes to block teenagers from discussing online."

The decision to block parts of the law is not final, and the case is expected to continue in the courts, which could take the case all the way to the Supreme Court.