Overview

• The Court denied NetChoice’s emergency request to pause House Bill 1126, allowing enforcement against major platforms such as Meta, YouTube and Snapchat while lower courts decide the case.
• Mississippi’s statute requires platforms to verify users’ ages, obtain parental consent for minors and take “commercially reasonable” steps to protect young people, with civil fines up to $10,000 per violation and possible criminal penalties.
• In a concurring opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said NetChoice has shown it will likely win on free-speech grounds but failed to demonstrate that enforcement would cause irreparable harm.
• The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a district judge’s preliminary injunction in July, reinstating the age-verification and consent requirements pending the outcome of ongoing litigation.
• The challenge is part of a larger wave of state efforts to curb online harms to children, triggering similar First Amendment and privacy lawsuits across both red and blue states.