Governors Keep Pushing Social Media Laws Despite Legal Setbacks

Proposals to limit how teens use social media are gaining bipartisan traction with governors and state legislators as the tech industry, so far successfully, tries to stave off such regulation through the courts.

Governors in New York, Virginia, and Idaho called for online restrictions this year to address youth mental health, social media addiction, and other concerns. Bills filed in Florida, Wisconsin, Missouri, and elsewhere would impose requirements specific to young users.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said in her Tuesday State of the State speech that the Empire State will “tackle the scourge of social media that has harmed so many young minds.” She’s backing youth privacy legislation as well as efforts to restrict teen access to social media feeds deemed addictive.

Social media restrictions face a formidable legal opponent in NetChoice, a tech industry group with members including Google, Meta Platforms Inc., and TikTok Inc. Through the courts, the group has halted implementation of such laws in Arkansas, Ohio, and California. The organization’s most recent success came Tuesday when a federal judge paused the Ohio social media law that would have taken effect Jan. 15.

Proposals debated in statehouses and Congress aim to boost protections for youth online beyond the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, a decades-old federal law that covers kids up to age 13. Social media companies point to their existing safety features and parental controls and note that teens benefit from online communities and connection.

Under such political pressure, NetChoice launched a campaign this week to encourage “constitutionally-appropriate” policy solutions, such as education for parents on existing social media safety tools. Meta on the same day announced new teen protections that include removing certain types of content for users under 18, such as posts about self harm.

Public pressure on social media companies has mounted over the past year through multi-state lawsuits, bad headlines, and regulatory action, said Niki Christoff, founder and CEO of the D.C.-based consultancy Christoff & Co.

Companies are facing heightened frustration from parents battling the addictive design of the platforms used by their children, she said.

“The action we are going to see is in the states, and I do think you’re seeing states start to take matters into their own hands when it comes to the harm that we all know kids are facing by using these social media apps,” Christoff said.

Governors Seek Laws

Federal social media regulation would be preferable to state laws, but states have the responsibility to step in when kids are being harmed, said Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted (R), who backed the state’s law requiring parental permission for youth under 16 to create social media accounts.

Lawmakers elsewhere should move forward with their proposals despite the legal challenges, he said.

“We’re not going to see any change at the federal level unless the states lean in, and you’ve got to start the legal process and the legislative process now,” Husted said. “We all better do this sooner rather than later. We’re losing a generation of kids to this.”

No state law enacted to regulate teen social media use has gone into effect, while efforts in Congress have stalled. NetChoice has had preliminary success in three lawsuits that raise First Amendment concerns—a challenge to California site design requirements and Ohio and Arkansas laws requiring parental permission for teens to create social media accounts.

“Ideally, lawmakers realize that banning speech is not the answer,” said Carl Szabo, vice president and general counsel for NetChoice.

NetChoice is also suing over Utah social media restrictions that are set to take effect in March, though a federal judge has yet to decide whether to block enforcement of that law. LGBT, digital rights, and other groups also warn of harmful consequences of limiting teens online.

Despite the legal setbacks, state leaders elsewhere are undeterred in proposing their own youth safety measures.

In Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) asked legislators Wednesday to send him a bill prohibiting tech companies from selling children’s data and said last month that he will push a proposal to limit access to TikTok by youth under 18.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) asked lawmakers during a Jan. 8 address “to pass meaningful reform, like legislative bodies in Arkansas and Utah and other states, to better protect our children from the harms of social media.” Legislation introduced in Florida would ban social media accounts by youth under 16.

Industry Favors Digital Education

The cases wending their way through the courts may provide a road map for other states wanting to enact their own laws. California could be a bellwether over its law regulating age appropriate site design that was the “biggest swing for the fences” when it comes to online child privacy acts, said Alfred Brunetti, data privacy principal at Porzio, Bromberg & Newman, P.C.

“If that’s going to wind up getting trimmed down to a certain degree, I think that’s going to be informative for some of the other states,” he said.

Ohio tried a different path with its focus on social media parental consent, which faces similar arguments of First Amendment violations in court. Husted said the law is narrowly tailored to avoid overreaching and imposes limits for youth under 16 that are easy for companies to comply with.

“We want to just solve the problem that we’re trying to solve without infringing on commerce or freedom or anything else,” Husted said.

Utah will vigorously defend its social media laws against the NetChoice litigation, Gov. Spencer Cox (R) said at a December news conference. There may also be some legislative changes to the requirements this year, he said.

Taxpayers, though, will ultimately be the ones “to pay the bill for all the lawsuits and all of the losses from these failed laws,” Szabo said.

NetChoice is looking to move beyond the courthouse battles. Its new policy campaign proposes enacting a federal data privacy law—which is unlikely in the short term—prosecuting more child sexual abuse material offenses, and educating individuals and families about digital safety and existing security features online.

“Teaching teenagers and parents how to use these tools is the better and more effective approach,” Szabo said.