Court Blocks MS Social Media Age Verification Law

July 1, 2024 Social Media

A federal judge on Monday blocked Mississippi from enforcing a new law that requires users of social media platforms to verify their ages and restricts access by minors to their sites if they lack parental consent, saying it was likely unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Halil Suleyman Ozerden in Gulfport, Mississippi, sided with tech industry trade group NetChoice in finding the law unduly restricted its users’ free speech rights in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.

NetChoice has previously won court rulings blocking a similar social media parental consent laws in Arkansas and Ohio and a children’s digital privacy law in California.

Read the full article. Photo: Gov. Tate Reeves.

🚨 NEW: District Court Halts Unconstitutional Law Failing Mississippians and Their Families in NetChoice v. Fitch

GULFPORT, Miss.—Today, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi halted Mississippi’s unconstitutional social media age verification law from… pic.twitter.com/Xhno0OHVrl

— NetChoice (@NetChoice) July 1, 2024