A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction Thursday against enforcement of a 2024 Georgia law that sought to limit social media companies’ access to children.
The Protecting Georgia’s Children on Social Media Act sailed through the General Assembly with broad bipartisan support and was a top priority for Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones.
But Amy Totenberg, a federal judge for the Northern District of Georgia, said the industry-backed plaintiff in the case was likely to prevail on claims that the law violates the First Amendment’s speech protections.
To restrict speech, the government must have a “compelling interest” that is “narrowly tailored,” the judge’s order says. But this law had “flawed tailoring,” she wrote, and it “curbs the speech rights of Georgia’s youth while imposing an immense, potentially intrusive burden on all Georgians who wish to engage in the most central computerized public forum of the twenty-first century.”
The plaintiff, a group called NetChoice, represents a who’s who of social media companies, Including Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta, YouTube, Reddit, X and Pinterest.
“Free expression doesn’t end where government anxiety begins,” said Chris Marchese, NetChoice’s litigation director. “Parents — not politicians — should guide their children’s lives online and offline — and no one should have to hand over a government ID to speak in digital spaces.”
NetChoice had urged Gov. Brian Kemp to veto the bill last year, asserting that it was unconstitutional.
But Kemp signed the legislation, which required social media companies to make “commercially reasonable efforts” to verify users’ age and mandated parent consent for those under 16. It also banned advertising to children.
Supporters had cited numerous studies that found social media posed significant danger to young people, particularly girls, increasing their risk of suicide.
Among Judge Totenberg’s criticisms was the age verification provision that she said imposes “severe burdens” on all Georgians.
The judge noted that NetChoice has challenged similar laws in at least eight other states, including Texas, Ohio, Arkansas, California, Utah, Florida, Mississippi, and Tennessee.
“Nearly all of those state laws are currently enjoined on a preliminary or permanent basis,” she added.