NEW ORLEANS—Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit will hear Mississippi’s appeal in our lawsuit, NetChoice v. Fitch. The hearing begins at 1:00 PM Central Time.
The state of Mississippi appealed its loss to the Fifth Circuit to overturn NetChoice’s preliminary injunction against HB 1126, granted by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. NetChoice sued Mississippi last year to keep online communications and speech safe and free, and to ensure parents—not big government—are in the driver’s seat in making decisions for their families. The District Court agreed and granted NetChoice an injunction.
“Mississippians have a First Amendment right to access lawful information online free from government censorship,” said Chris Marchese, NetChoice Director of Litigation. “An unconstitutional law protects no one, especially not minors, and we’re confident the Fifth Circuit will agree.”
You can find the District Court’s ruling granting the preliminary injunction here, NetChoice’s request for a preliminary injunction here and a web page detailing case resources for NetChoice v. Fitch here.
Top Takeaways of NetChoice v. Fitch:
- HB 1126 violates the First Amendment because it conditions Mississippians’ access to vast amounts of protected speech on handing over their sensitive, personal data.
- It jeopardizes the security of all users, especially minors, by requiring them to surrender sensitive, personal information and creates a new target for hackers and predators to exploit.
- Parents and guardians are best situated to control their family’s online presence. HB 1126 usurps the parental role and seizes it for the state.
- A vast amount of speech could be unintentionally censored online under the vague requirements of the government under the law, including: The U.S. Declaration of Independence, Sherlock Holmes, The Goonies, the National Treasure movie series featuring Nicholas Cage, Taylor Swift’s new album, and much more.
Please contact press@netchoice.org with inquiries.