Nonprofit sues Ken Paxton to block SCOPE Act

HOUSTON – The Houston Chronicle reports the SCOPE Act is scheduled to go into effect Sunday — but a recent challenge to the Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment Act may prevent that. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a 501(c) nonprofit, sued to block enforcement of the law aimed to protect minors from “harmful content and data collection practices.” “Courts have already enjoined similar measures in California, Arkansas, Ohio, Mississippi, and Indiana,” the lawsuit reads. “While these efforts to protect young people are well-intentioned, they lack perspective. The idea that some types of social network use by some minors under certain conditions might adversely affect some segment of this cohort cannot justify imposing government restrictions on all social network use by all minors.” In the lawsuit filed Aug. 16 against Attorney General Ken Paxton, the nonprofit alleges the SCOPE Act infringes on more than just children’s rights.

“Texas has jumped on a misguided bandwagon of recent efforts to childproof the internet by passing the Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment Act,” the lawsuit reads. “The Act subjects all Texans — not just minors — to age registration as a condition of access to digital services. It requires online services to monitor their content, and depending on a service’s mix, requires even more intrusive and imperfect age-verification screenings as a condition to engage in protected speech, violating established law.” Introduced by Rep. Shelby Slawson as House Bill 18, the act requires digital service providers to follow these guidelines: Digital service providers must register the age of the person creating an account for the platform and prevent the person from altering his/her age at a later date; A minor’s parent and/or guardian must notify the digital service provider of the minor’s age or successfully dispute the registered user’s age. The target audience for the SCOPE Act is anyone younger than 18. The Chronicle previously reported Slawson said the bill, passed during the 88th Texas Legislative Session, aims to keep kids safe online while empowering parental involvement.