Social Media Age Restrictions — Which States Have Them and Why They’re So Hard to Pass

This legislative season, eighteen states are working to create age verification legislation — laws that force pornography companies to verify online users’ age.

Age verification laws garner broad support because most people believe pornography shouldn’t be available to kids. The relative universality of porn’s inappropriate content makes age verification an easy bandwagon to jump on.

Age restrictions for social media, however, have proven a much harder undertaking.

Few doubt that social media is dangerous for kids, and many advocate parents keep children off social media until well into their teenage years. But people disagree whether legislation keeping kids off social media empowers parents or weakens them.

Both positions can be reasonable depending on the laws’ content. Each one restricts kids of different ages in different ways, allots different amounts of power to the state and to parents, and tasks social media companies with different legal responsibilities.

The variability of social media age restrictions makes it difficult for legislators and voters to agree on which bills truly help parents. Social media companies further muddy the waters with aggressive legal tactics. Internet trade association NetChoice, of which Meta, X, Snap Inc. and TikTok are members, has sued states requiring social media companies spend money and time enforcing their own age limits.

NetChoice has successfully stymied four social media age verification laws in three different states. A judge granted the organization’s request to temporarily stop the enforcement of laws in Arkansas and Ohio. Utah elected to repeal and replace its contested bills rather than going to court.

Below is a snapshot of states that have pursued social media age restrictions, and where their bills are now. The Daily Citizen hopes you and your family will carefully consider which kinds of laws would keep your children safe from the dangers of technology.

For more information on laws protecting parental rights in your state, contact your local Family Policy Council.

DID YOU KNOW?

Instead of imposing age limits on social media, some states have introduced bills targeting its most addictive features.
New York’s S 7694, for instance, would require social media companies to make minors’ accounts show chronological posts only, rather than algorithm-driven “For You” pages.
New York’s bill has been in committee since December 2023. A broader law establishing an “Age-Appropriate Design Code” in California (AB 2273) was temporarily stopped by a district judge last December.
These kinds of bills face different legal challenges because they force private companies to change their product, rather than regulating who uses the product.
UNDER INJUNCTION
ARKANSAS: A 689 — put under preliminary injunction on Aug. 31, 2023

Requires all minors obtain parental consent before using social media.

Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed the bill into law on April 4, 2023.
NetChoice sued to stop the law’s enforcement on July 7, 2023, alleging free speech and privacy violations.
OHIO: HB 33 — put under preliminary injunction on February 12, 2024

Requires children 16 years old and younger obtain parental consent before using social media.
Requires companies disclose their privacy policies to parents.

Law passed as part of a state budget bill Governor Mike DeWine signed in July 2023.
NetChoice sued to stop the law’s enforcement on January 5, 2024, alleging free speech and parental rights violations.
PASSED
FLORIDA: HB 3— signed into law on March 25, 2024

Prevents children 13 years old and younger from using social media.
Requires 14- and 15-year-olds obtain parental consent before using social media.
Creates age-verification requirement for technology.

Law goes into effect on January 1, 2025.
LOUISIANA: HB 61 — signed into law on June 28, 2023

Requires all minors obtain parental consent before using “interactive computer services.”

Law goes into effect on August 1, 2024.
TEXAS: HB 18 — signed into law on June 11, 2023

Requires social media companies to limit services to minors who do not obtain parental consent.
Requires social media companies to prevent minors from stumbling on inappropriate or harmful content.

Law goes into effect on September 1, 2024.
IN-PROGRESS
GEORGIA: SB 351 — awaiting Governor’s signature

Requires children 16-years-old and younger obtain parental consent to use social media.
Creates an age verification requirement for pornography.
Creates safeguards against pornography and social media in schools and on school equipment.

NetChoice petitions governor to veto the bill on April 1, 2024
NEW JERSEY: SB 4215 passed committee 5-2-1 with amendments on Dec. 14, 2023

Requires all minors obtain parental consent before using social media.
Creates increased privacy protections for minors using social media.

NetChoice publishes oppositional legal analysis on Dec. 19, 2023.
Notably opposed by Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the ACLU of New Jersey and the Trevor Project.
Passed committee 5-2-1 with amendments on Dec. 14, 2023
SOUTH CAROLINA: HB 4700 referred to Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee on Feb. 1, 2024

Requires all minors obtain parental consent before using social media.

NetChoice gives oppositional testimony before South Carolina House Judiciary Committee on Jan. 10, 2024. Bill passed out of this committee with amendments on Jan. 24, despite NetChoice’s arguments.
FAILED
PENNSYLVANIA: SB 22 — killed in committee on October 25, 2023

Requires all minors obtain parental consent before using social media.
Prevents social media companies from encouraging minors to “access content which the social media company knows … subject one or more minors to harm.”

NetChoice wrote opposition letter to state Senate on Oct. 3, 2023
UTAH: SB 152 and SB 311 — repealed and replaced by Utah legislature in March 2024.

Together formed the Utah Social Media Regulation Act.
Required all minors obtain parental consent before using social media.
Required social media companies to increase privacy protections for minors on social media, curtail minors’ usage of social media at night and give parents access to minors’ social media accounts.
Prevented social media companies “from using a practice, design, or feature … that the social media company knows” could cause minors to become addicted.

Utah Governor Cox signed both bills into law on March 23, 2023. The laws were scheduled to go into effect on March 1, 2024.
NetChoice sued to stop the laws’ enforcement on Dec. 18, 2023, alleging the acts would violate the first amendment.
Rather than litigate the laws, the Utah legislature repealed SB 152 and SB 311 and replaced them with weaker legislation in February. HB 464 and SB 194 do not impose age restrictions on social media.
NetChoice testified in opposition to the new laws in before the House Judiciary Committee and Senate Business and Labor Standing Committee, respectively, in February 2024.
Governor Cox signed the weaker legislation on March 15, 2024, despite NetChoice’s arguments.

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