Adult content
In effect
- Bill / statute
- HB 1181 (2023)
- Status
- Active law in effect
- Effective
- Sep 1, 2023
- Intrusiveness
- High -- Broad reach: low or no content threshold, device/OS-level, or bundled with other verification.
HB 1181 (2023) -- adult-content age verification for sites where more than one-third of content is harmful to minors; effective Sept 2023. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld it 6-3 in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton (June 27, 2025), the ruling that settled the constitutional question for adult-content AV laws nationwide.
Timeline
- Jun 12, 2023HB 1181 signed
- Sep 1, 2023In effect
- Jun 27, 2025US Supreme Court upholds the law (Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton)
Source: capitol.texas.gov
Social media
In effect
- Bill / statute
- HB 18, SCOPE Act (2023)
- Status
- Active law in effect
- Effective
- Sep 1, 2024
- Intrusiveness
- High -- Broad reach: low or no content threshold, device/OS-level, or bundled with other verification.
The Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act, HB 18 (2023), requires digital services to verify whether a user is a minor and to obtain verified parental consent before a minor under 18 enters an agreement with the service, plus parental tools over the minor account. It took effect Sep 1, 2024 and those duties are IN FORCE. What is blocked is narrower than the law: Judge Robert Pitman (W.D. Tex.) enjoined only the monitoring-and-filtering provisions -- Tex. Bus. & Com. Code 509.052(2)(D), 509.053, 509.055, 509.056(1) and 509.057 -- as vague and likely preempted, and denied relief in all other respects; a companion ruling widened that in Feb 2025 to reach the targeted-advertising restrictions. On Jul 24, 2026 the Fifth Circuit AFFIRMED the injunction on the monitoring-and-filtering mandate in CCIA & NetChoice v. Paxton, No. 24-50721, holding it preempted by 47 U.S.C. 230 under Doe v. MySpace (Judge Douglas writing). The age-verification and parental-consent core was never enjoined and the Fifth Circuit did not disturb it.
Timeline
- Jun 13, 2023SCOPE Act (HB 18) signed
- Aug 30, 2024W.D. Tex. enjoins the monitoring and filtering provisions only; denies relief as to the rest
- Sep 1, 2024In effect
- Sep 1, 2024Takes effect; age-verification and parental-consent duties operative
- Feb 1, 2025Companion ruling widens the injunction to the targeted-advertising restrictions
- Jul 24, 2026Fifth Circuit affirms the injunction on monitoring/filtering as section 230-preempted (No. 24-50721)
Source: capitol.texas.gov
App store
In effect
- Bill / statute
- SB 2420 (2025)
- Status
- Active law in effect
- Effective
- Jun 4, 2026
- Intrusiveness
- High -- Broad reach: low or no content threshold, device/OS-level, or bundled with other verification.
- Sponsor
- Sen. Angela Paxton (signed by Gov. Abbott)
App Store Accountability Act, signed May 27, 2025, set for Jan 1, 2026. Judge Pitman preliminarily enjoined it Dec 23, 2025 (CCIA v. Paxton), but the 5th Circuit stayed that injunction and the law took effect June 4, 2026; it is in force while the First Amendment appeal continues. App stores must verify age at account creation and obtain parental consent for minors' downloads/purchases. Challengers (CCIA and SEAT) then filed an emergency application at the U.S. Supreme Court in mid-June 2026 to reinstate the injunction; Texas opposed it on June 22, 2026, and on July 6, 2026 the Supreme Court denied the application, declining to block the law; it remains in force while the First Amendment appeal continues. Update, July 6, 2026: the U.S. Supreme Court declined to lift the Fifth Circuit's order allowing the law to take effect while litigation continues, leaving the app-store age-verification mandate in force. The tech industry group challenging it argued no state had ever required proving age to read a newspaper or enter a bookstore.
Timeline
- Dec 23, 2025Court hold
- Dec 23, 2025Preliminarily enjoined; strict scrutiny applies and the law fails it (Judge Pitman, W.D. Tex., 1:25-cv-01660 and 1:25-cv-01662)
- May 6, 2026District court denies the State a stay of the injunction
- May 28, 2026Fifth Circuit administratively stays the injunction
- Jun 4, 2026In effect
- Jun 4, 2026Fifth Circuit grants a stay pending appeal -- the law becomes enforceable
- Jun 10, 2026SEAT (No. 25A1389) and CCIA (No. 25A1390) apply to the Supreme Court to vacate the Fifth Circuit stay
- Jul 6, 2026Supreme Court denies both applications on the emergency docket -- brief unsigned orders, no noted dissents, First Amendment question not reached; law stays in force pending the Fifth Circuit merits appeal
Source: capitol.texas.gov
