GULFPORT, Miss.—Today, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi halted Mississippi’s unconstitutional social media age verification law from going into effect while our case, NetChoice v. Fitch, moves through the legal system.
“An unconstitutional law will protect no one. We’re pleased the court sided with the First Amendment and stopped Mississippi’s law from censoring online speech, limiting access to lawful information and undermining user privacy and security as our case proceeds,” said Chris Marchese, Director of the NetChoice Litigation Center. “We look forward to seeing the law struck down permanently.”
Marchese continued: “If HB 1126 ultimately takes effect, mandating age and identity verification for digital services will undermine privacy and stifle the free exchange of ideas. Mississippi also commandeers websites to censor broad categories of protected speech, blocking access to important educational resources. Mississippians have a First Amendment right to access lawful information online free from government censorship.”
You can find the court’s ruling granting the preliminary injunction here, our request for a preliminary injunction here and a web page detailing our case resources for NetChoice v. Fitch here.
Please contact Krista Chavez at press@netchoice.org with inquiries.