NetChoice sues Virginia to block its one-hour social media limit for kids
Tech industry trade group NetChoice is suing Virginia over a new law that will prevent minors from using social media for more than an hour a day. The lawsuit, filed Monday, asks the court to block the law on the grounds that it violates the First Amendment by putting “unlawful barriers to how and when all Virginians can access free speech online.”
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin signed the social media bill (SB 854) in May, and it is set to take effect on January 1, 2026. Under the law, social media platforms will have to prevent children under the age of 16 from using the sites for more than an hour each day, unless they have received permission from a parent.
In addition to restricting access to legal speech, NetChoice alleges that Virginia’s new law will require platforms to verify users’ ages in a way that would pose privacy and security risks. The law requires platforms to use “commercially reasonable methods,” which include a screen prompting the user to enter their date of birth. However, NetChoice says Virginia could go beyond this requirement, citing a message from Governor Youngkin on
We’ve already seen the risks of this data collection, as Discord revealed last month that around 70,000 users may have had their government credentials exposed in a customer service data breach linked to age-related calls.
NetChoice, backed by tech giants like Meta, Google, Amazon, Reddit and Discord, says the law places a burden on minors’ ability to express themselves or consume speech online. “The First Amendment prohibits the government from imposing these kinds of restrictions on access to lawful and valuable speech, just as the government cannot tell you how much time you might spend reading a book, watching a television show, or consuming a documentary,” said Paul Taske, co-director of the Netchoice Litigation Center. The edge.
“Virginia needs to leave parenting decisions where they belong: with the parents,” Taske says. “By asserting this authority for itself, Virginia not only violates its citizens’ right to free speech, but also places them at increased risk of privacy and security violations.”
