Court Lifts Block on Georgia Law Restricting Children's Social Media Access, State May Enforce It
From Atlanta, Georgia: a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit has vacated the preliminary injunction against Georgia's law restricting children's access to social media, allowing the state to enforce it. The panel determined that NetChoice, the industry group that sued, had failed to demonstrate it was likely to succeed on its claims, and sent the case back to district court for further proceedings. The opinion found flaws in NetChoice's arguments, including that the organization had failed to account for the differing constitutional protections for the full range of speech and platforms the law regulates.
The law, the Protecting Georgia's Children on Social Media Act (Senate Bill 351), passed the General Assembly in 2024 with broad bipartisan support and was signed by Governor Brian Kemp. It requires covered social media companies to make commercially reasonable efforts to verify users' ages, mandates parental consent for those under 16 to open accounts, and bans advertising to children when the ads are based on personal information other than age and location. NetChoice, which represents platforms including Meta, YouTube, Reddit, X and Pinterest, sued in May 2025, and U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg in Atlanta issued a preliminary injunction in June 2025 blocking enforcement.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, who defended the law, called the decision a major win for families, saying it is about keeping children safe from online predators and mental health harms. Paul Taske, director of the NetChoice Litigation Center, said the group was disappointed and evaluating its legal options, noting the appeals court did not hold that SB 351 is constitutional.
Separately, according to Carr's office, in August Georgia joined 46 other states, the District of Columbia and several U.S. territories in proposing a multistate settlement of a lawsuit against Meta. The settlement would require up to $17.1 billion in payments by Meta, with up to $135 million going to Georgia, and would require Meta to impose new limits on teen accounts while giving parents the option for more control.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，摄影师 Mistercontributer（CC BY-SA 4.0），Atlanta 市区与佐治亚州议会大厦航拍
