LGBT Tech Joins Amicus Brief Against HB 18’s Harmful Internet Censorship

This month, LGBT Tech joined a civil liberties amicus brief to the Fifth Circuit in CCIA v. Paxton, a case challenging Texas’s “Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment Act” (HB 18). Much like the flawed Tennessee law at issue in U.S. v. Skrmetti, which addressed the constitutionality of Tennessee’s ban on gender affirming care for minors, HB 18 imposes sweeping restrictions under the guise of “protecting children”, but in reality, it undermines the First Amendment, threatens digital privacy, and endangers everyone who depends on the internet to access and express ideas, build community, and stay safe. HB 18 requires digital platforms, including social media services, to verify users’ ages and limit access to “harmful” content.  In practice, this will mean imposing intrusive age verification systems that compromise users’ anonymity and privacy and using content filters that will censor and chill speech for users of all ages. While Texas claims the law protects children, the vague definitions and burdensome enforcement requirements will chill free expression, especially for LGBTQ+ communities, regardless of age.

In other words, HB 18 doesn’t just stop kids from seeing dangerous content, it silences lawful voices, restricts community spaces, and introduces invasive surveillance into digital life. And critically, the law places LGBTQ+ people, especially youth, at particular risk.  For many LGBTQ+ people, especially trans and nonbinary youth, the internet is not optional. It’s a lifeline.

According to our research, 94% of transgender adults say the internet helped them better understand their identity. Eighty-one percent say that seeing LGBTQ+ representation online was formative to their self-understanding. And yet, 76% worry about losing access to community spaces, and 78% fear that LGBTQ+ content could be removed or blocked.  

HB 18 gives the state extraordinary power to dictate what speech is "harmful," targeting topics like eating disorders, substance use, and bullying, issues that LGBTQ+ youth disproportionately face  and may only feel free to discuss in affirming, supportive online spaces. By forcing platforms to suppress these conversations or risk penalties, HB 18 endangers precisely the kind of peer-to-peer support and community storytelling that helps young people survive and thrive.  

HB 18's age-verification provisions also undermine the right to remain anonymous online, a right especially vital for LGBTQ+ individuals navigating hostile environments at home, school, or work. Requiring government IDs or similar documentation to access social platforms will block many users who either lack such documentation or cannot safely disclose personal details. This includes undocumented youth, those living in unsupportive households, and adults whose legal names and gender markers don’t align with their identities.

The law also poses massive privacy and security risks. Once sensitive information is collected, there is no guarantee it won’t be exposed in a data breach or misused by third-party data brokers. In a time of increased hostility toward trans people and the criminalization of gender-affirming care, the idea of centralized identity databases tied to online activity is alarming.

LGBT Tech believes in a future where all people, regardless of age, identity, or zip code, can speak, learn, and connect freely online. The First Amendment doesn’t vanish when you log into a platform, and it certainly doesn’t disappear because you’re young, queer, or marginalized.

The Fifth Circuit now has the opportunity to affirm  the lower court’s decision to block HB 18 and send a clear message: the First Amendment does not allow government overreach to masquerade as child protection—especially when it threatens the rights and safety of LGBTQ+ communities.

We urge them to do so, and we remain committed to defending an open, inclusive internet where all communities can thrive.