A federal judge has ruled that social media companies cannot be forced to block certain types of content aimed at teenagers. The ruling will prevent some aspects of a controversial social media law in Texas from taking effect.
The ruling came as tech industry groups challenged the Children's Online Protection Through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act, a Texas law that imposes age verification requirements and other policies on how social media companies treat teenage users. The edge The measure also requires companies to “prevent exposure of known minors to harmful material,” including content that “glorifies” self-harm and substance abuse.
It was this last requirement that was struck down, with the judge saying that “a state cannot cherry-pick which categories of protected speech it wishes to prevent teens from discussing online.” The judge also criticized the language used in the law, writing in his decision that terms like “glorify” and “promote” are “politically charged” and “undefined.”
At the same time, the judge left in place other aspects of the law, including age verification requirements and bans on advertising directed at minors. NetChoice, the tech industry group that challenged the law, has that measures like the Scope Act require big tech companies to increase the amount of data they collect from minors.
The Texas law, originally passed last year, is one of many around the country trying to dictate how social media platforms treat underage users. New York recently passed a law restricting social media companies’ ability to collect data on teenage users and requiring parental consent for younger users to access “addictive” features like algorithmic feeds. California lawmakers also recently passed a law restricting social media companies’ ability to collect data on teenage users and requiring parental consent for younger users to access “addictive” features like algorithmic feeds. a measure, which must still be signed into law by the governor, that requires social media companies to limit notifications to minors and restrict their use of “addictive” algorithms.
