Ohio Family Group Celebrates Ruling on Social Media Age Verification Law

The Center for Christian Virtue is celebrating last week’s decision by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that allows an Ohio law on age verification and parental consent for those under 16 using social media to go into effect.

Ohio’s Parental Notification by Social Media Operators Act, signed into law in 2023, was supposed to go into effect in January 2024, until NetChoice, an association of social media sites, challenged the law in court. The group claimed the law presented an unconstitutional restriction on free speech and was unconstitutionally vague.

Although the law was blocked in the 2024 ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Algenon Marbley, the federal appeals court last week in a 2-1 decision directed Marbley to vacate his ruling after ruling that “NetChoice has failed to establish that the Act is facially unconstitutional.”

“[The parental consent requirement] constitutes a marginal burden that precisely targets the multi-faceted problem that Ohio has identified: Children’s unsupervised assent to terms and conditions for use of platforms that take advantage of and harm them,” Judge Eric Clay wrote in the opinion.

The Center for Christian Virtue has been involved in the law since it was originally introduced.

“This ruling is a major victory for Ohio parents and children,” CCV President Aaron Baer told the Daily Signal. “CCV was proud to advocate for this law because parents—not Big Tech companies—should decide when their children are ready to use social media.”

Baer’s statement also referenced the court’s reasoning, noting that the “court rightly recognized that protecting children online and empowering parents is not only constitutional, but necessary.”

Clay wrote that parental consent “works here because the nature of the harm itself is that children’s unsupervised use of social media puts them at risk of the adverse effects of prolonged and unregulated exposure.”

He also addressed NetChoice’s arguments, noting that “NetChoice has not shown that the Act’s parental-consent requirement violates its Members’ First Amendment rights, let alone that the Act violates the First Amendment on its face.”

Earlier in the opinion, the court’s decision also made reference to Ohio’s concerns, including growing evidence that social media is linked to eating problems, poor mental health, and poor academic performance among youth.

“The state further worries about the prevalent use of social media among child sexual predators to target minors, deficient data privacy for minor social media users, and exploitative contract terms that social media operators impose on them,” the opinion reads.

The law had not been able to go into effect due to Marbley’s ruling. Baer said his only disappointment is that the delayed enactment means many kids failed to have protection.

“The only disappointment is that this law was tied up in court for years while countless Ohio children were exposed to the harmful effects of social media without commonsense protections,” he said. We’re grateful this safeguard can finally take effect and help parents do what they do best: protect their kids.”

NetChoice did not return the Daily Signal’s request for comment. However, Paul Taske, the director of their litigation center, previewed a possible appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, saying, “We are currently reviewing our options on how best to move forward.”