JACKSON, ma’am. — A new Mississippi law requiring users of websites and other digital services to verify their age will unconstitutionally restrict access to online speech for minors and adults, a technology industry group said in a lawsuit filed Friday.
Lawmakers said the new law is intended to protect children from sexually explicit material. The measure passed the Republican-controlled House and Senate without bipartisan opposition. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed it into law on April 30 and it will become law on July 1.
The lawsuit challenging the new Mississippi law was filed in federal court in Jackson by NetChoice, whose members include Google, owner of YouTube; Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat; and Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.
NetChoice has convinced judges to block similar laws in other states, including Arkansas, California And Ohio.
Mississippi law “requires both minors and adults to verify their age — which may include handing over personal information or identification that many are unwilling or unable to provide — as a condition of accessing and participating in protected speech,” the lawsuit said. “Such requirements restrict freedom of expression and therefore violate the First Amendment.”
The lawsuit also says Mississippi’s law would replace websites’ voluntary content moderation efforts with state-mandated censorship.
“Furthermore, the broad, subjective and vague categories of speech that the law requires websites to monitor and censor could cover everything from classic literature, such as ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘The Bell Jar’, to modern media such as Taylor pop songs Swift,” the lawsuit states.
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch is the defendant named in the lawsuit. Her office told the Associated Press on Friday that it was preparing a statement on the lawsuit.
Utah is among the states sued by NetChoice over laws that placed strict restrictions on children accessing social media. In March, Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed revisions to Utah laws. The new laws require social media companies to verify the ages of their users and disable certain features on accounts owned by Utah youth. Utah lawmakers have also removed the requirement that parents agree to their child opening an account, after many expressed concerns that they would have to enter data that could compromise their online safety.