Institute for Family Studies backs Texas app store law at Supreme Court

The Institute for Family Studies filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to let Texas enforce its App Store Accountability Act while litigation continues. The brief supports a Fifth Circuit ruling that allowed the law to take effect and argues parents need more oversight of children’s app usage.

Why it matters: - The Supreme Court fight could determine whether Texas can require app stores to give parents more visibility into children’s digital app use. - The case also tests how far states can go in regulating tech platforms in the name of child safety and parental authority.

What happened: - The Institute for Family Studies filed an amicus brief through its Family First Technology Initiative in support of Texas and the Fifth Circuit’s decision to let the App Store Accountability Act go into effect. - The brief asks the Supreme Court to keep the Fifth Circuit ruling in place until the court reaches a decision on the law’s merits. - The Fifth Circuit had previously overturned a lower court injunction that blocked the law.

The details: - Jared Hayden, policy analyst for the Family First Technology Initiative at the Institute for Family Studies, said the Fifth Circuit was right to say child safety matters more than ever in the digital world. - Hayden also said tech companies, including app stores and app developers, have failed American families. - The Texas law is designed to require tech companies to keep parents informed about their children’s digital app usage. - Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton cited an Institute for Family Studies argument about app stores in the state’s case before the Supreme Court. - The Institute for Family Studies said this filing is part of a broader effort to show how digital technologies and online spaces can weaken parental authority and harm children.

Between the lines: - The brief places the dispute inside a larger push by family-policy advocates to shift more control over children’s digital lives back to parents. - The Texas case may also signal whether the Supreme Court is willing to let states regulate app ecosystems before the merits of a law are fully resolved.

What's next: - The Supreme Court will decide whether to let the Fifth Circuit’s decision stand while the App Store Accountability Act continues through the legal process. - A ruling on the law’s merits will determine whether Texas can ultimately enforce the statute.

The bottom line: - The filing adds a family-policy voice to a high-stakes legal fight over parental oversight, app stores and state power in the digital age.