Tech Companies Sue GA Over New Kid's Social Media Law

A new law will go into effect in Georgia July 1 that state lawmakers say will protect children’s activities online. It contains a few parts:

• Children under 16 must have their parents’ permission to create social media accounts.
• Websites must verify customer ages.
• Certain online advertising will be limited for child users.

The idea is to reduce cyberbullying and the mental health risks kids face on social media, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Tech companies fight back: Several major companies are now suing the state to overturn the law, saying it violates First Amendment rights of children, teens and the tech companies themselves.

The suit was brought by NetChoice, a technology industry group that represents Facebook, Google, YouTube, X, Amazon and other companies.

Georgia is now the eighth state to be sued over age-related restrictions on websites. NetChoice already successfully challenged similar laws in Arkansas and Ohio.

A tough battle for parents and leaders: Unfettered access to social media and the internet poses known mental health and safety risks to young users, but it’s been a challenge to find effective means of protection — after all, how do you keep a generation shaped by social media off social media?

Social media platforms, for example, already ban users under 13, which doesn’t stop persistent and tech-savvy preteens. Pew Research Center numbers show more than a third of the 95% of teens 13 to 17 who use a social media platform do so “almost constantly.”