U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman of Austin ruled on Friday that provisions of a 2023 Texas state law violate the free speech rights of minors.

The Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment Act, or SCOPE Act, requires digital service providers like TikTok and Instagram to create guardrails to prevent minors from gaining access to certain harmful content on the Internet.

“In its attempt to block children from accessing harmful content, Texas also prohibits minors from participating in the democratic exchange of views online,” Pitman wrote. “Even accepting that Texas only wishes to prohibit the most harmful pieces of content, a state cannot pick and choose which categories of protected speech it wishes to block teenagers from discussing online.”