Efforts to limit minors’ access to social media hit another speed bump as a federal judge in Ohio permanently blocked the state’s age verification requirements. 

The federal judge, Algenon L. Marbley, granted a permanent injunction to block the Social Media Parental Notification Act. The law, passed as part of Ohio’s 2023 budget, required websites and online communities that “target” children or can be “reasonably anticipated” to be used by them to verify that a user was at least 16. 

The law provided various means to verify an individual’s age, such as with a credit card, a phone call, or a video conference. Users younger than 16 would have to prove they had parental consent. Governor Mike DeWine signed the legislation and cast it as a way to help protect children’s mental health. 

A trade association, NetChoice, filed a challenge to the law in 2024, alleging it violated the First Amendment and the 14th Amendment, which guarantees equal protection under the law. The association’s members include Meta, Alphabet, and X Corp.

Judge Marbley said in his ruling, “Even the government’s most noble entreaties to protect its citizenry must abide in the contours of the U.S. Constitution, in this case the First Amendment.”

While the state argued the law does not regulate protected speech, the judge said it “regulates operators’ ability to publish and distribute speech to minors and speech by minors,” and that it “regulates minors’ ability both to produce speech and to receive speech.”

Additionally, Judge Marbley took issue with some of the exceptions to the law, such as a carveout for news websites. He said that is “favoring engagement with certain topics, to the exclusion of others.”

While he acknowledged concerns about children being harmed by content online, the judge said, “Ohio’s response to a societal worry that children might be harmed if they are allowed to access adult-only sections cannot be to ban children from the library altogether absent a permission slip.” 

Judge Marbley also stated that the evidence presented by the state to back up its claim that social media is harmful to children is “based on correlation” and “not evidence of causation.”

NetChoice praised the ruling in a statement, saying, “The decision confirms that the First Amendment protects both websites’ right to disseminate content and Americans’ right to engage with protected speech online, and policymakers must respect constitutional rights when legislating.”

In a statement, Mr. DeWine said, “We know how harmful social media is to children without parental involvement. This law is a commonsense solution that allows social media usage by a child under the permission of a parent, just like going on a school field trip or participating in youth sports.”

The governor said the ruling should be appealed.  

The ruling blocking Ohio’s law comes two weeks after a federal judge ruled that a similar law in Arkansas is unconstitutional.

Lawmakers in several states have passed laws seeking to limit minors’ access to social media because of concerns that such platforms are hurting their mental health. Ten states, including Ohio and Arkansas, have passed age verification laws, and various other proposals have been introduced, such as regulating social media companies’ algorithms to control the content directed at minors.

The concerns have led other countries to try to curb social media access for minors. In November, Australia’s parliament passed a ban on social media for those under the age of 16. The law does not include an exception for parental consent. 

While the laws in Ohio and Arkansas were blocked, Big Tech says it is not opposed to restrictions altogether. In a post on Medium, the vice president for safety at Meta, Antigone Davis, proposed requiring parental consent for downloading apps.

“Parents should approve their teen’s app downloads, and we support federal legislation that requires app stores to get parents’ approval whenever their teens under 16 download apps,” Ms. Davis said. “With this solution, when a teen wants to download an app, app stores would be required to notify their parents, much like when parents are notified if their teen attempts to make a purchase.”

California also passed an age verification law, which has been blocked and the case is still pending.