Key facts
- A U.S. appeals court has allowed Ohio to enforce a law requiring parental consent for children under 16 to use social media.
- The ruling by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals overturns a previous block on the law.
- The court found the law does not violate free speech protections.
- The law requires social media companies to obtain parental permission for minors under 16.
- The law was part of an $86.1 billion state budget bill signed in July 2023.
A U.S. appeals court has allowed Ohio to enforce a law requiring children under 16 to obtain parental consent before using social media apps. The ruling by a 2-1 panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals overturns a previous block placed by a U.S. District Judge at the request of the tech industry trade group NetChoice.
In the decision, U.S. Circuit Judge Eric Clay wrote that the law imposes a parental consent requirement, which constitutes a marginal burden that precisely targets the problem of children's unsupervised assent to terms and conditions on platforms that may harm them. Judge Alice Batchelder concurred, stating that a statute is not vague simply because it has a wide berth.
The law, known as the Social Media Parental Notification Act, was part of an $86.1 billion state budget bill signed by Republican Ohio Governor Mike DeWine in July 2023. The administration had pushed the measure, with then-Lt. Governor Jon Husted stating that social media was "intentionally addictive" and harmful to children. The law requires companies to get parental permission for social media and gaming apps and to provide their privacy guidelines.