{"id":2475181,"date":"2025-08-15T14:01:01","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T18:01:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-declines-to-block-mississippi-social-media-age-verification-law\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T14:02:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T18:02:19","slug":"supreme-court-declines-to-block-mississippi-social-media-age-verification-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-declines-to-block-mississippi-social-media-age-verification-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court declines to block Mississippi social media age-verification law"},"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\">20<\/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%2Fsupreme-court-declines-to-block-mississippi-social-media-age-verification-law%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=2475181&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 declined an emergency request to block enforcement of Mississippi&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scotus-greenlights-mississippis-age-verification-law-for-now\/\" title=\"SCOTUS Greenlights ...s ...-Verification ... (For Now)\">social media age-verification law<\/a>, allowing the law to remain in effect while legal challenges continue in lower courts. The law <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kids-online-safety-act-bill-introduced-to-protect-the-safety-of-children-on-the-internet\/\" title=\"\u2018Kids Online Safety Act\u2019 Bill Introduced To \u2018Protect The Safety Of Children On The Internet\u2019\">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><\/a> to verify users&#8217; ages and obtain parental consent for users under 18. The court&#8217;s unanimous, unsigned order included a concurrence from Justice brett Kavanaugh, who noted that although the law is likely unconstitutional, the petitioner, internet trade group NetChoice, did not sufficiently demonstrate that the balance of harms favored blocking the law at this time. NetChoice expressed disappointment but remains confident it will ultimately prevail in defending First Amendment rights.The Mississippi Attorney General supported the stay, arguing NetChoice failed to meet the criteria for Supreme court intervention. The case centers on the balance between protecting children online and preserving free speech and user access on social media platforms.  <\/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<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Supreme Court declines to block Mississippi social media age-verification law<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2203270\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/supreme-court\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Supreme Court\">Supreme Court<\/a> declined an emergency request on Thursday to halt enforcement of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/mississippi\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Mississippi\">Mississippi<\/a> law requiring age-verification for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/social-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"social media\">social media<\/a> websites, allowing the statute to be enforced as litigation continues in a lower court.<\/p>\n<p>The unsigned unanimous order issued by the high court included a concurrence from Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who argued NetChoice, the internet trade group that brought the petition to the Supreme Court&rsquo;s emergency docket, failed to show that the &ldquo;balance of harms and equities favors it at this time with its request.&rdquo; While he and the other eight justices denied the emergency stay, Kavanaugh said he believes NetChoice is likely to succeed on the merits of the case.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/finance-and-economy\/3499214\/trump-team-anxious-over-court-threat-to-tariffs\/\">Trump team anxious over court threat to tariffs<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/3498425\/supreme-court-gay-marriage-unlikely-to-take-up-legal-challenge\/\">Why the Supreme Court is unlikely to take up the legal challenge to gay marriage<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/3497337\/supreme-court-schedule-october-rearguments-louisiana-redistricting\/\">Supreme Court schedules October rearguments for Louisiana redistricting case<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;In short, under this Court&rsquo;s case law as it currently stands, the Mississippi law is likely unconstitutional,&rdquo; Kavanaugh wrote in his concurring opinion. &ldquo;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>NetChoice said it was &ldquo;disappointed&rdquo; by the decision Thursday but called it an &ldquo;unfortunate procedural delay&rdquo; and said it remains confident it will ultimately win the case.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Although we&rsquo;re disappointed with the Court&rsquo;s decision, Justice Kavanaugh&rsquo;s concurrence makes clear that NetChoice will ultimately succeed in defending the First Amendment &mdash; not just in this case but across all NetChoice&rsquo;s ID-for-Speech lawsuits,&rdquo; NetChoice Litigation Center Co-Director Paul Taske said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>The law at the center of the emergency request, the Walker Montgomery Protecting Children Online Act, requires social media platforms to verify the ages of their users and obtain parental permission for users under the age of 18.<\/p>\n<p>NetChoice was granted a preliminary injunction by a federal district court in June, halting enforcement of the law against its nine affected member platforms: Dreamwidth, Facebook, Instagram, Nextdoor, Pinterest, Reddit, Snapchat, X, and YouTube. The preliminary injunction was later stayed pending appeal by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in a July order in which the appeals court did not elaborate on its reasoning. Shortly after the appellate court&rsquo;s stay, NetChoice filed a petition to the Supreme Court asking for the injunction to be restored.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Fifth Circuit&rsquo;s stay order would transform how Mississippi residents access and experience fully protected online speech&mdash;and how <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" ><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/state-legislatures-push-to-fight-big-tech-but-experts-warn-of-limitations\/\" title=\"State Legislatures Push to Fight Big Tech, but Experts Warn of Limitations\">social media websites<\/a> curate<\/a>, disseminate, and display this speech,&rdquo; NetChoice said in its petition to the Supreme Court last month.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This law would stifle the internet&rsquo;s promise of &lsquo;relatively unlimited, low-cost capacity for communication of all kinds,&rsquo; by requiring users to jump through substantial barriers to accessing speech that this Court &mdash; not to mention numerous courts across the country &mdash; have held unconstitutional in a variety of contexts,&rdquo; the petition continued.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3477133\/federal-court-mississippi-social-media-age-restriction\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"FEDERAL COURT RULES MISSISSIPPI CAN ENFORCE SOCIAL MEDIA AGE VERIFICATION LAW\">FEDERAL COURT RULES MISSISSIPPI CAN ENFORCE SOCIAL MEDIA AGE VERIFICATION LAW<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch argued to the high court that the appeals court&rsquo;s stay should remain in place, saying NetChoice failed to show the necessary factors for the high court to act.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This Court should deny the application. NetChoice satisfies none of the vacatur criteria. It has not shown that the stay order is demonstrably wrong, that this Court would likely review a Fifth Circuit decision rejecting the injunction, or that the equities support its extraordinary request,&rdquo; Fitch wrote in response to NetChoice&rsquo;s petition to the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2203270\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2203270\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Supreme Court allows Mississippi social media age check law<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2638,"featured_media":2475182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/supreme-court-outside-file-photo-70.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[33666,51639,6632,32364,32275],"class_list":["post-2475181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-age-verification","tag-law-2","tag-mississippi","tag-social-media","tag-supreme-court"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/supreme-court-outside-file-photo-70.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2475181","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\/2638"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2475181"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2475181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2475185,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2475181\/revisions\/2475185"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2475182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2475181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2475181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2475181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}