Appeals court lets Georgia enforce social media age-verification law for now
A federal appeals court on Thursday lifted an order that had blocked Georgia's social media law, letting the state require platforms to verify users' ages, Courthouse News Service and the AJC reported. The law bars children under 16 from having accounts without a parent's OK. The tech group NetChoice is still suing.
A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday lifted a lower court's order that had blocked Georgia's Senate Bill 351, letting the state enforce its law requiring social media platforms to verify users' ages and restrict minors' accounts, Courthouse News Service and the AJC reported. The law aims to keep children under 16 from having social media accounts without a parent or guardian's permission and limits advertising on and data collection from minors' accounts, the AJC reported. It also limits the personal data platforms use to show ads to users under 16, Courthouse News reported.
The panel said NetChoice, a trade group whose members include Meta, Google and Amazon, "failed to carry the burden it bears" in its First Amendment challenge, Courthouse News reported. "Even if most expression on most social media platforms is protected by the First Amendment, not all of it is, at least not with respect to all users," Judge Kevin Newsom wrote for the panel, according to Courthouse News. The judges said NetChoice "has failed to demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits of its claims," the AJC reported.
The ruling did not decide whether the law is constitutional. "While we are disappointed in the 11th Circuit's ruling, the court notably did not hold that SB 351 is constitutional," said Paul Taske, director of NetChoice's litigation center, according to Courthouse News. The case returns to U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg in Atlanta, who blocked the law in June 2025, the AJC reported. NetChoice said the ruling will force Georgians "of every age to hand over sensitive personal information just to access lawful speech online," the AJC reported.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr called the decision "a major win for Georgia families," according to the AJC. A day earlier, the same court vacated an injunction against Florida's law banning social media accounts for children under 14, Courthouse News reported. NetChoice has challenged similar laws in nearly a dozen other states, and most are blocked for now, Courthouse News reported.
What we know: Georgia can now enforce SB 351's age-verification and parental-consent rules while NetChoice's lawsuit continues.
What we don't: Whether NetChoice will seek further review, and when platforms will start verifying Georgia users' ages.
Where outlets agree Courthouse News Service and the AJC both report that the 11th Circuit lifted the order blocking Georgia's SB 351, so the state can enforce it while the lawsuit continues.
Where they differ The outlets cited here report the same key facts so far.