I'm

I'm going to be tech policy podcast.

I'm Corbyn Barthold.

The only constant is change, of course, but some changes loom larger than others.

That's been a recurring theme on the show lately.

We've covered the Trump administration's norm-shattering behavior, political chaos on the surface,

and we've explored the AI revolution, a deeper tectonic societal shift.

There's another disruption underway. You might say it's an outgrowth of those other two.

Growing right-wing power in the states and the courts is converging with growing public panic over the speed of technological change.

The result is a growing threat to internet freedom.

This is a complex trend, and I expect it will come up in many episodes to come.

For now, though, the headline story is clear.

On June 27th, the Supreme Court issued Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton. The court's six conservative justices

upheld HB 1181, a Texas law that age gates pornographic websites. To do so, they bent the

First Amendment into ugly new shapes.

If only this ruling were a one-off,

but it's more likely to serve as a catalyst for a more closed internet.

Several states have already tried to age gate social media.

Days after Free Speech Coalition came out, the Fifth Circuit, apparently taking its cues from the decision, let one such law, Mississippi's

HB1126, take full effect pending appeal.

Netchoice has filed an emergency application asking the Supreme Court to block that ruling.

As of this recording, the justices have not acted on it.

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