(Texas Scorecard) – A federal lawsuit is challenging Texas’ new App Store Accountability Act, which is set to take effect January 1, 2026. This is the latest development in an ongoing clash between Texas lawmakers and Big Tech.
The act—also known as Senate Bill 2420—forces app stores to age‑verify every user and obtain parental consent before any minor can download or purchase an app. The lawsuit alleges SB 2420 violates the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment and Commerce Clause as well as fundamental privacy rights.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA)—whose members include Apple, Google, and Amazon—filed the lawsuit against Attorney General Ken Paxton in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas (Austin Division) last week.
The CCIA filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, hoping to block the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) from enforcing the law before it takes effect.
Arguments
Upon signing SB 2420 into law in July, Gov. Greg Abbott said the measure will protect children who are trapped by predators into situations beyond their control.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) applauded the law, arguing it “will put parents back in the driver’s seat in the digital age by allowing them to decide what apps are safe for their children to download, and what in-app purchases they are comfortable with them making.”
“It also holds app stores accountable by giving them the responsibility to verify the age of users and to require more transparent, accurate age ratings for apps often rated safe for children that may actually contain lewd, harmful, and unsafe content,” TPPF continued.
In its lawsuit, CCIA frames the law as a “broad censorship regime on the entire universe of mobile apps.”
“In a misguided attempt to protect minors, Texas has decided to require proof of age before anyone with a smartphone or tablet can download an app,” reads the lawsuit. “Anyone under 18 must obtain parental consent for every app and in-app purchase they try to download—from ebooks to email to entertainment.”
Plaintiffs highlight the burden placed upon them by the requirements of SB 2420.
“Texas seeks to compel app developers to rate the age appropriateness of their own apps and the millions of pieces of content available for in-app purchase according to Texas’ vague and unworkable set of age categories,” said the CCIA.
It also pointed out the burden placed on minors and their parents by the new law, arguing that “[e]ven minors who can successfully link a verified parent account are burdened when their parents are (understandably) too busy to approve each request as it is made.”
“[M]inors who do not have a parent or legal guardian able to provide consent under the Act will be entirely shut out of mobile app stores and the thousands of speech-enabling apps and the speech and information apps provide,” said the lawsuit.
Plaintiffs contend the law is unconstitutional by comparing app stores and virtual libraries to physical stores and real libraries.
“None of our laws require businesses to ‘card’ people before they can enter bookstores and shopping malls,” said the lawsuit. “The First Amendment prohibits such oppressive laws as much in cyberspace as it does in the physical world.”
However, State Sen. Angela Paxton (R–McKinney), SB 2420’s author, specifically addressed this analogy in her statement of intent, taking a different approach.
“Unlike brick and mortar stores which must verify a consumer’s age before the purchase of age-restricted products such as alcohol and cigarettes, minors are currently able to navigate through the digital world without such parameters,” said Paxton.
The lawsuit also criticizes what SB 2420 failed to do—for example, the fact that the law “does nothing” to exempt apps that facilitate protected free speech.
“Texas has ‘burn[ed] the house to roast the pig,’” reads the lawsuit.
Another contention is that the law only targets apps available on mobile devices but does “nothing to prevent minors from accessing the same exact content, pursuant to the same terms of service, on a web browser, desktop computer, smart TV, or from offline sources.”
Attorney General Paxton told Texas Scorecard, “Texas law supports parents as they work to protect their children from illicit and inappropriate content that exists in today’s digital world.”
“SB 2420 does this by incorporating existing industry best practices to strengthen parents’ ability to guide their child’s development,” he continued. “I will boldly defend this law and fight against those who would like nothing more than to expose minors to inappropriate content.”
Sen. Paxton’s office told Texas Scorecard, “Big Tech may have deep pockets, but Texas has a deeper resolve. The App Store Accountability Act stands for one simple truth – parents, not corporations, should have the final say in what children access on their devices.”
Related Litigation
CCIA’s Texas lawsuit echoes its and NetChoice’s ongoing challenges to other state tech laws.
In NetChoice & CCIA v. Paxton (2024), the same judge in the Western District of Texas—Judge Robert Pitman—granted a preliminary injunction blocking Texas House Bill 18. This was the state’s Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act, a separate law imposing age‑verification and parental‑consent mandates for websites and digital services.
The Fifth Circuit has the state’s appeal under review. HB 18 is blocked from taking effect until the conclusion of litigation.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2025 ruling in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton upheld another Texas statute requiring age verification for adult websites. However, the Court’s tailored reasoning—distinguishing sexually explicit sites from general-purpose apps—leaves the constitutional footing of laws like SB 2420 uncertain.
There is also a second, separate lawsuit challenging SB 2420. It was filed by Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT) on the same day as CCIA’s lawsuit and in the same court—albeit before a different judge. This lawsuit is from the angle of minors affected by the new law rather than technology companies.
Both lawsuits are requesting the court to declare the law unconstitutional and block enforcement before the January rollout.
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