CINCINNATI, Ohio — Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit handed NetChoice a victory in its ongoing challenge to Tennessee’s Digital ID law, vacating a lower court’s denial of NetChoice’s request for a preliminary injunction and sending the case back for further consideration.
“Tennesseans should not be forced to hand over their private information simply to access news, watch videos, connect with friends or engage in lawful speech online. We are pleased the Sixth Circuit recognized the serious harms posed by Tennessee’s law, and we look forward to defending free speech, privacy and parental rights as our case returns to district court,” said Paul Taske, Director of the NetChoice Litigation Center.
Tennessee’s law requires social media companies to collect personal information to verify the ages of prospective account holders and obtain parental consent before allowing minors to create accounts. The law is a blatant violation of the First Amendment, which prohibits the government imposing digital ID requirements as a condition of accessing lawful speech online. Adults should be free to speak, listen, and share ideas without government interference. Likewise, parents, not the government, are best positioned to make decisions about their families.
In its decision, the Sixth Circuit recognized that the threat of enforcement can itself chill First Amendment rights and that businesses can suffer irreparable harm from unrecoverable costs required to comply with a law they are challenging as unconstitutional. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee had previously concluded that NetChoice failed to demonstrate an imminent threat of irreparable harm because Tennessee had not yet enforced the law against NetChoice members.
The Sixth Circuit’s ruling does not decide the ultimate constitutionality of Tennessee’s law. Instead, the court vacated the district court’s denial of a preliminary injunction and remanded the case for the lower court to consider the remaining factors, including NetChoice’s likelihood of success on its constitutional claims.
Read today’s ruling here.
Find case resources for NetChoice v. Skrmetti here.