Ben Sperry Quoted in The Center Square on Texas App Store Age-Verification Law
The Center Square quoted Ben Sperry, ICLE Senior Scholar of Innovation Policy, in a piece on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision not to block Texas’ App Store Accountability Act. The article discussed concerns that the law’s age-verification and parental-consent requirements could restrict minors’ access to apps and lead to collateral censorship for both minors and adults. Read the full piece here.
However, the International Center for Law and Economics criticized the high court’s decision not to review the App Store Accontability Act. Ben Sperry, a senior scholar of innovation policy at the center, said Texas’ law is not aligned with the First Amendment.
“Minors have a right to participate in the marketplace of ideas, including as purchasers and receivers of speech, like apps,” Sperry wrote. “This would likely lead to considerable collateral censorship not only for minors, but also adults who do not wish to provide the necessary means to have their age verified.”