Social networks can’t be forced to filter content for kids, says judge

By Adi Robertson , a senior tech and policy editor focused on VR, online platforms, and free expression. Adi has covered video games, biohacking, and more for The Verge since 2011.

A federal judge issued a last-minute partial block on a Texas law that would require some large web services to identify minors and filter what they see online. Called HB 18 or the Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act, it was signed into law last year and was set to take effect over the weekend on September 1st. But a late Friday court ruling determined that the “monitoring and filtering” requirements posed a significant threat to online speech.

The SCOPE Act requires a range of web services, particularly large social networks, to apply special rules to users whose registered age is under 18. That includes limiting data collection, banning targeted advertising, and not allowing financial transactions without parental consent. More unusually for a US-based law, it says services must implement a plan to “prevent the known minor’s exposure to harmful material,” including content that promotes or “glorifies” things like suicide, self-harm, substance abuse, and “grooming.” And any service whose content is deemed more than one-third harmful or obscene (as defined by an existing Texas statute) must implement a “commercially reasonable age verification method.”

Tech industry groups NetChoice and the CCIA sued to prevent the law from taking effect, arguing that it unconstitutionally restricted freedom of expression. A separate suit was filed by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression or FIRE. On August 30th, Judge Robert Pitman agreed partially to NetChoice’s demands in court, granting an injunction on the monitoring and filtering rules while the case proceeds.

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