Politics
11th Circuit clears path for Georgia’s under-16 social media restrictions
A federal appeals court has lifted a temporary block on Georgia’s law requiring age checks and parental permission for children under 16 to use social media. The constitutional challenge remains pending in Atlanta federal court.
Georgia can enforce key parts of its law regulating minors’ social media use while a legal challenge proceeds, a panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday, Oct. 15.
The decision lifts a temporary injunction that had blocked the state from enforcing the disputed provisions of Senate Bill 351, known as the Protecting Georgia’s Children on Social Media Act. The law bars children under 16 from having social media accounts without a parent or guardian’s permission and restricts advertising to, and data collection from, minors’ accounts. It also allows fines for companies that fail to make reasonable efforts to verify users’ ages.
The ruling does not end the case. It sends the dispute back to U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg in Atlanta, who had blocked the challenged provisions in June 2025. Georgia was already allowed to enforce other portions of the law, including a requirement that schools prevent students from accessing pornographic websites.
NetChoice, a trade group representing internet companies including Meta, Amazon, Google and Netflix, sued Attorney General Chris Carr in May 2025. The group argues the law could chill online speech, including anonymous speech by adults and young people, in violation of the First Amendment.
The three-judge appeals panel—Kevin Newsom, Robert Luck and Gerald Bard Tjoflat—said NetChoice had not shown it was likely to win its claims. The judges also rejected, at this stage, the group’s arguments that the law is unconstitutionally vague or overridden by federal law. They said the statute holds platforms responsible for their own decisions rather than for users’ speech.
Carr called the decision “a major win for Georgia families” and said the law is intended to protect children from online predators and mental health harms. NetChoice did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to the information available Thursday.
Totenberg previously acknowledged concerns about potential harm social media can cause young people, while emphasizing that First Amendment protections apply to adults and youth. The appeals ruling advances Georgia’s effort to put age checks and parental-consent requirements into practice, while leaving the broader constitutional questions for the ongoing case.