The Supreme Court handed down a very brief order on Thursday, which allows a Mississippi law restricting children’s access to social media to remain in place — for now.

It is far from clear, however, whether the Mississippi law at issue in Netchoice v. Fitch will remain in place for very long. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who is ideologically at the center of this very conservative Supreme Court, wrote a concurring opinion explaining that he thinks the law “would likely violate [social media companies’] First Amendment rights under this Court’s precedents.”

But he joined the Court’s decision nonetheless because the plaintiff in this case, a trade group that represents internet companies, “has not sufficiently demonstrated that the balance of harms and equities favors it at this time.”

What is the “shadow docket”?

Kavanaugh’s reference to “the balance of harms and equities” refers to the rule the Supreme Court used to apply in its “shadow docket” cases, a mix of emergency motions and other matters that the justices decide on an expedited basis. Typically, when the Court grants shadow docket relief, it issues a temporary order that blocks a lower court decision........

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