AUSTIN - Attorney General Ken Paxton has been hit with a lawsuit alleging a bill signed into law earlier this year is violating free speech by requiring state residents to prove their age before downloading any mobile application content.
Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT) and a handful of minors filed the suit October 16 in the U.S. District Court for Western Texas, Austin Division.
Paxton
SEAT represents a coalition of Texas students, ranging from middle school to college-age, who seek to increase youth visibility and participation in policymaking.
Senate Bill 2420 (Texas App Store Accountability Act) was signed into law in May 2025 and requires app stores to verify user ages and get parental consent for minors.
“Texas has passed a law presumptively banning teenagers – and restricting everyone else – from accessing vast online libraries of fully protected speech,” the suit states. “Teenagers are banned from downloading any app – as well as paid content within any app – without parental consent.
“The Act violates the First Amendment on its face.”
SEAT argues Texas cannot ban minors from downloading digital content though app stores or within apps without parental consent, just like the government could not compel a bookstore to screen patrons and stop minors from purchasing any book without parental approval.
The plaintiffs are Texas minors and Texas-based organizations that contend the act will restrict them from communicating, accessing information, and engaging in protected expression.
The plaintiffs include a student-run organization that uses mobile apps to promote civic engagement; a high-school journalist who uses apps to find news and information, research stories, and publish reporting; and a high-school student who uses apps to study, create art, and engage with others’ expressive works.
“Social networking apps are integral to modern life, for both teens and adults,” the suit states. “Among other things, social networks provide an essential outlet for political expression. Youth-led movements have used social media to bring attention to issues not adequately covered in traditional media.”
SEAT asserts the act sweeps “even more broadly than the State’s other recent attempts to childproof the internet” and is asking the court to declare that the law violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
The law goes into effect January 1, 2026.
The law firm of Davis Wright Tremaine represents the plaintiffs.
Case No. 1:25-cv-01662
