Federal appeals court allows Georgia social media age verification law to proceed

After more than a year of a legal battle, a federal appeals court decided to allow a Georgia law requiring age verification for social media accounts.

In 2024, Georgia lawmakers passed Senate Bill 351, which would require social media companies to make “commercially reasonable efforts” to verify someone’s age. If they cannot identify a user’s age, that user must be treated as a minor.

Children younger than 16 would need their parents’ consent to join a service, and the law limits how social media companies can target minors under 16 with advertisements and how much information the companies can collect from them.

NetChoice, a technology industry trade group, filed a lawsuit to overturn the law before it went into effect July 1, 2025. A U.S. District court blocked the law until a full ruling on the issues could take place.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit found in favor of the state on Thursday saying that the group did not sufficiently argue that enforcement of the law would be unconstitutional. 

The law will now return to district court for additional proceedings.