Supreme Court upholds Mississippi social media age requirement law – UPI.com

A banner advertising Snap hangs from the facade of the New York Stock Exchange as Snap’s initial public offering debuts in New York City in 2017. The Supreme Court Thursday refused to overturn a Mississippi law requiring age verification for social media users. File Photo by Monika Graff/UPI | License Photo Aug. 14 (UPI) — The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to block a law requiring social media users to verify their ages before using popular sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. The high court’s ruling stems from a Mississippi lower court ruling that would require people to be a certain age to use popular social media sites. Some social media site operators have argued that the Mississippi law, and efforts by other states to require age verification, violates the First Amendment clause that guarantees free speech. Weeks ago, the Supreme Court upheld a Texas law requiring age verification for users visiting sites that contain sexually explicit content. In that ruling, Justice Clarence Thomas said the Texas law did not violate the First Amendment because, he expressed, it is important to protect “children from sexually explicit material.” Through a spokesperson, State Attorney General Lynn Fitch said the state is
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