Somewhere in America tonight, another parent will stumble upon something disturbing on their child’s smartphone—an unauthorized app, a questionable chat, or content no family would invite into their home. This scene plays out millions of times daily because Big Tech designed it that way: seamless access, endless engagement, and minimal friction for the youngest users.

Texas has stepped forward with a straightforward solution. The App Store Accountability Act demands that app stores secure parental consent before minors download apps or make in-app purchases.

Not government censorship. Not bureaucratic oversight of family values. Simply restoring parents to their rightful place at the helm of their children’s digital lives.

Big Tech’s response, predictably, has been litigation. Apple and Google-backed industry groups have challenged the law in federal court, absurdly claiming it violates the First Amendment. The notion that requiring a corporation to check with Mom and Dad before selling to their child amounts to censorship reveals far more about Silicon Valley’s priorities than any legal principle.

Children cannot legally buy alcohol, sign binding contracts, or make major medical decisions without parental involvement. Why should entering a commercial relationship with an app store—complete with data harvesting, terms of service drafted by lawyers, and addictive algorithms—be any different?

For generations, American law has recognized that minors need protection in the marketplace. Texas Senate Bill 2420 simply extends that common sense to the digital age.

The tech industry’s business model depends on capturing young attention. Algorithms engineered with behavioral psychology keep children scrolling long after they should be asleep. As one prominent book on habit-forming products noted, these platforms deliberately reshape user behavior.

The results speak for themselves: climbing rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation among teens track closely with smartphone proliferation.

Even the U.S. Surgeon General has highlighted social media’s profound risks to youth mental health. Yet when states act to empower parents, the same companies that profit from this crisis cry foul and deploy their legal teams.

Their opposition exposes a core contradiction: the platforms claim to champion free expression while fighting tooth and nail against the very families whose children fuel their growth.

Courts have long affirmed that the First Amendment does not strip states of their ability to protect minors, especially when such protections reinforce parental authority. Landmark decisions like Ginsberg v. New York upheld restrictions that aid parents rather than supplant them.

The Supreme Court’s parental rights jurisprudence—from Meyer v. Nebraska to Troxel v. Granville—rests on the foundational truth that children are not mere creatures of the state.

Critics complain that age verification burdens companies. Yet Americans verify identity routinely for banking, travel, and over-the-counter medications. App stores already gather user data at signup. The technology exists; what Silicon Valley lacks is the willingness to prioritize child safety over engagement metrics.

Texas leads a growing national effort to reclaim authority from unaccountable platforms. Parents across the country recognize the digital world arrived without built-in safeguards, and the companies harvesting children’s attention have every incentive to keep it that way. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals now has the opportunity to uphold what the Constitution has always protected: parental sovereignty over the raising of children.

Scripture places the weight of child-rearing squarely on parents. As Deuteronomy 6:6-7 instructs, “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”

This command encompasses every sphere of life, including the powerful tools our children carry in their pockets.

Big Tech possesses armies of lawyers, lobbyists, and limitless resources. Parents possess the law, constitutional principles, moral clarity, and the truth of their God-given responsibility. In the battle for our children’s hearts and minds, that foundation must prove sufficient. The alternative—ceding control to Silicon Valley—is a surrender no family of faith can afford.

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