{"id":2474851,"date":"2025-08-14T18:02:01","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T22:02:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scotus-greenlights-mississippis-age-verification-law-for-now\/"},"modified":"2025-08-14T18:04:24","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T22:04:24","slug":"scotus-greenlights-mississippis-age-verification-law-for-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scotus-greenlights-mississippis-age-verification-law-for-now\/","title":{"rendered":"SCOTUS Greenlights Mississippi&#8217;s Age-Verification Law (For Now)"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fscotus-greenlights-mississippis-age-verification-law-for-now%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2474851&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to block Mississippi&#8217;s social media age-verification law, allowing it to go into effect for now. The law requires <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-new-acting-attorney-general-jeff-rosen-recently-wrote-an-essay-on-foreign-influence-in-us-elections-this-tells-us-a-little-about-his-knowledge-of-whats-going-on-today\/\" title=\"The New Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen Recently Wrote an Essay on Foreign Influence in US Elections \u2013 This Tells Us A Little About His Knowledge of What\u2019s Going On Today\">social media platforms<\/a> to verify the ages of users, obtain parental consent for minors, and implement measures to protect young people from harmful content such as bullying, self-harm promotion, and substance abuse. Violations may result in fines up to $10,000 per offense and possible criminal penalties.<\/p>\n<p>The decision came after NetChoice, an internet trade association representing major <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ga-poll-watcher-it-expert-non-trump-supporter-affidavit-sudden-surge-of-20000-mail-in-votes-for-biden-in-early-hours-on-nov\/\" title=\"GA Poll Watcher, IT Expert, Non-Trump Supporter Affidavit: Sudden Surge of 20,000 Mail-In-Votes For Biden In Early Hours On Nov\">social media companies<\/a> like Meta, X, and YouTube, sought to reinstate a lower court&#8217;s injunction against the law. The Supreme Court rejected NetChoice&#8217;s motion without dissent.Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh concurred but noted that while he agreed wiht the court&#8217;s decision due to insufficient exhibition of harm, he believed the law is likely unconstitutional based on existing First Amendment precedent.<\/p>\n<p>This case adds to ongoing legal battles over state regulation of social media platforms. Previously, the Supreme Court took no final stance on similar laws in florida and Texas, leaving those issues to lower courts for further review. Mississippi attorney general Lynn Fitch defended the law, emphasizing child protection on social media. The ruling signals a tentative approval for state enforcement of social media age-verification requirements while <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >leaving broader constitutional questions unresolved<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<div id=\"ld-4686-3758\"><\/div>\n<p><script>(function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:14832835450050406,size:[0, 0],id:\"ld-4686-3758\"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src=\"https:\/\/cdn2.decide.dev\/_js\/ajs.js\";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,\"script\",\"ld-ajs\");<\/script><\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Social_media.png\">Jason Howie\/Wikimedia Commons\/<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/deed.en\">CC BY 2.0<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/08\/14\/scotus-greenlights-mississippis-social-media-age-verification-law-for-now\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=SCOTUS%20Greenlights%20Mississippi%E2%80%99s%20Social%20Media%20Age-Verification%20Law%20(For%20Now)&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/08\/14\/scotus-greenlights-mississippis-social-media-age-verification-law-for-now\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=SCOTUS%20Greenlights%20Mississippi%E2%80%99s%20Social%20Media%20Age-Verification%20Law%20(For%20Now)&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/08\/14\/scotus-greenlights-mississippis-social-media-age-verification-law-for-now\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/08\/14\/scotus-greenlights-mississippis-social-media-age-verification-law-for-now\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=SCOTUS%20Greenlights%20Mississippi%E2%80%99s%20Social%20Media%20Age-Verification%20Law%20(For%20Now)&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/08\/14\/scotus-greenlights-mississippis-social-media-age-verification-law-for-now\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined a request to block Mississippi&rsquo;s social media age-verification law from going into effect (for now). <\/p>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/24pdf\/25a97_5h25.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">two-page<\/a> order, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-rejects-biden-admin-request-to-implement-immigration-policy\/\" title=\"... rejects Biden admin. request to implement immigration policy\">high court rejected<\/a> a motion from NetChoice &mdash; an internet trade association &mdash; to &ldquo;reinstate a lower court&rsquo;s order protecting social media giants like Meta, X and YouTube from the new requirements,&rdquo; according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wpri.com\/hill-politics\/supreme-court-declines-to-block-mississippi-social-media-age-verification-law\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">local Fox affiliate<\/a>. The order did not list any dissents among the justices.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1949689816\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>According to the left-wing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scotusblog.com\/2025\/07\/mississippi-urges-court-to-uphold-restrictions-on-childrens-access-to-social-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SCOTUSblog<\/a>, the law in question &ldquo;imposes a variety of requirements on both young people and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/big-tech-to-ban-parler-over-lack-of-content-moderation\/\" title=\"Big tech to ban Parler over lack of content moderation\">social media sites<\/a>,&rdquo; including parental consent for minors to create an account on the intended social media site. Under the statute, social media companies must further verify the ages of those creating accounts and &ldquo;create a strategy to protect young people from being exposed to harmful material and content that promotes self-harm, bullying, and substance abuse, among other behaviors.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Violators of the law could face &ldquo;up to $10,000 per violation, and criminal penalties may also be imposed,&rdquo; according to the outlet. <\/p>\n<p>NetChoice <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wpri.com\/hill-politics\/supreme-court-declines-to-block-mississippi-social-media-age-verification-law\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reportedly<\/a> filed its application with the Supreme Court after the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a district judge&rsquo;s blockade on the Mississippi statute. The group argued that it would suffer &ldquo;immediate, irreparable&rdquo; harm should the law be permitted to take effect.<\/p>\n<p>Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch subsequently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scotusblog.com\/2025\/07\/mississippi-urges-court-to-uphold-restrictions-on-childrens-access-to-social-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">filed<\/a> a separate motion asking the justices to reject the group&rsquo;s request. <\/p>\n<p>While the Supreme Court did not offer an explanation for denying NetChoice&rsquo;s application, Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh authored a concurring opinion on the matter. <\/p>\n<p>The Trump appointee said that he agreed with the high court&rsquo;s Thursday decision &ldquo;because NetChoice has not sufficiently demonstrated that the balance of harms and equities favors it at this time.&rdquo; He went on to note, however, his belief that the group &ldquo;demonstrated that it is likely to succeed on the merits&mdash;namely, that enforcement of the Mississippi law would likely violate its members&rsquo; First Amendment rights under this Court&rsquo;s precedents.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Given [the Supreme Court&rsquo;s] precedents, it is no surprise that the District Court in this case enjoined enforcement of the Mississippi law and that seven other Federal District Courts have likewise enjoined enforcement of similar state laws,&rdquo; Kavanaugh wrote. &ldquo;In short, under this Court&rsquo;s case law as it currently stands, the Mississippi law is likely unconstitutional. Nonetheless, because NetChoice has not sufficiently demonstrated that the balance of harms and equities favors it at this time, I concur in the Court&rsquo;s denial of the application for interim relief.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Cases involving state-enforced regulation of social media platforms have notably been making their way to the Supreme Court in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, for example, the high court issued a unanimous decision in a case involving Florida and Texas&rsquo; laws restraining Big Tech companies&rsquo; ability to censor content it deemed unfavorable. As The Federalist <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/01\/scotus-punts-on-constitutionality-of-state-laws-constraining-big-tech-censorship\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a> at the time, the justices declined to rule on the merits of the laws, and instead punted the issue back to the lower courts for further review. <\/p>\n<p>Much like with the Mississippi case, NetChoice was a main plaintiff challenging the laws&rsquo; legality. <\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Shawn Fleetwood<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShawnFleetwood\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@ShawnFleetwood<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/shawnfleetwood\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/age-verification\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">age verification<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/age-verification-laws\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">age verification laws<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/big-tech\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Big Tech<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/brett-kavanaugh\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Brett Kavanaugh<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/mississippi\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Mississippi<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/scotus\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">SCOTUS<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/social-media\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">social media<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/supreme-court\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Supreme Court<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image Credit Jason Howie\/Wikimedia Commons\/CC BY 2.0 Share On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to block Mississippi&#8217;s social media age-verification law from taking effect (for now)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2474852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Social_media.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[61297,32546,6632,6994,32275],"class_list":["post-2474851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-age-verification-law","tag-legal-decision","tag-mississippi","tag-scotus","tag-supreme-court"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Social_media.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2474851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2474851"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2474851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2474855,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2474851\/revisions\/2474855"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2474852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2474851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2474851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2474851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}