The tech industry trade group NetChoice is suing Virginia over a new law that will restrict minors from using social media for more than one hour per day. The lawsuit, filed on Monday, asks the court to block the law over claims it violates the First Amendment by putting “unlawful barriers on how and when all Virginians can access free speech online.”
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin signed the social media bill (SB 854) into law in May, and it’s set to go into effect on January 1st, 2026. Under the law, social media platforms will have to prevent kids under 16 from using the sites for more than one hour every day unless they receive permission from a parent.
In addition to restricting access to legal speech, NetChoice alleges that Virginia’s incoming law will require platforms to verify user ages in ways that would pose privacy and security risks. The law requires platforms to use “commercially reasonable methods,” which it says include a screen that prompts the user to enter a birth date. However, NetChoice argues that Virginia could go beyond this requirement, citing a post from Governor Youngkin on X, stating “platforms must verify age,” potentially referring to stricter methods, like having users submit a government ID or other personal information.
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 IDs exposed during a customer service data breach related to age-related appeals.
NetChoice, which is backed by tech giants like Meta, Google, Amazon, Reddit, and Discord, alleges that the law puts a burden on minors’ ability to engage or consume speech online. “The First Amendment prohibits the government from placing these types of restrictions on accessing lawful and valuable speech, just in the same way that the government can’t tell you how long you could spend reading a book, watching a television program, or consuming a documentary,” Paul Taske, the codirector of the Netchoice Litigation Center, tells The Verge.
NetChoice has filed — and won — lawsuits against several other states that have enacted laws requiring social media platforms to implement age verification requirements, though Virginia appears to be the first to impose a strict time limit for minors. Virginia — like numerous other states — also requires porn sites in the state to verify the ages of their users.
“Virginia must leave the parenting decisions where they belong: with parents,” Taske says. “By asserting that authority for itself, Virginia not only violates its citizens’ rights to free speech but also exposes them to increased risk of privacy and security breaches.”
