A US federal judge blocks Ohio from implementing a law that would require social media companies to obtain parental consent for kids under 16 to use their apps
This matter is before this Court on Plaintiff NetChoice, LLC's ("NetChoice") … Krista Chavez / NetChoice : NetChoice Halts Ohio Law: 4th Ruling Stopping Laws That Fail Kids, Parents & Constitution Sarah Szilagy / WCMH-TV : Ohio's social media parental consent law blocked by judge as likely unconstitutional Tonya Riley / Bloomberg Law : Teen Social Media Restrictions in Ohio Blocked by Judge Jacob Ogles / Florida Politics : Tech-backed campaign demands lawmakers fix social media ban by empowering parents X: Kate Siefert / @katewsyx6 : An judge granted a preliminary injunction in @NetChoice's lawsuit to block an Ohio social media age check law. “We won't give up. We can't watch a generation of children become victimized by these companies and we will do everything in our power to protect them.” - @LtGovHusted Governor Mike DeWine / @govmikedewine : My response to the court decision of preliminary injunction that blocks the Social Media Parental Notification Act: ["The Social Media Parental Notification Act remains a reasonable, clear, narrowly tailored, and, I believe, lawful approach to provide safeguards and parental guidance. I am disappointed in today's ruling by the district court and respectfully disagree with it. Since the federal courts are interpreting federal constitutional law as preventing the State of Ohio from protecting Ohio's children, then Congress needs to act to protect our country's children"] Ari Cohn / @aricohn : There has been an extremely stupid idea going around that states can make an end-run around the First Amendment by saying “this bill just regulates minors' ability to agree to terms of service, it has nothing to do with speech!” Judge Marbley was rightfully having none of that. [image] Lt. Governor Jon Husted / @ltgovhusted : 🗞️ @GovMikeDeWine, Lt. Governor @JonHusted Release Statements Following Court Decision of Preliminary Injunction that Blocks Social Media Parental Notification Act ➡️ Read their full statements here: https://content.govdelivery.com/ ... [image] @senatorshoshana : hmm if only someone had repeatedly warned lawmakers @netchoice : NETCHOICE HALTS OHIO LAW: 4TH RULING STOPPING LAWS THAT FAIL KIDS, PARENTS & CONSTITUTION COLUMBUS, Ohio—Today, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio officially granted NetChoice's request to halt the state's unconstitutional Parental Notification by Social... James Czerniawski / @jamescz19 : Color me shocked, shocked, that the Courts once again enjoins one of these state proposals. Not like we haven't been warning states about these outcomes or anything.🙃 Protecting kids online is important, these legislative proposals are not the answer. [image]
Context & Ripple Effects
Ohio's measure had already been paused in January through an earlier temporary halt to enforcement. This preliminary injunction extends that court fight rather than resolving the underlying policy debate.
The ruling also fits a developing pattern: an Arkansas parental-consent requirement for minors' social-media accounts was likewise blocked before taking effect. The recurring issue is whether age-gating and parental-approval mandates can survive First Amendment scrutiny.
First-order effects
- Ohio cannot enforce its Social Media Parental Notification Act while the preliminary injunction is in place.
- NetChoice and the platforms it represents avoid having to deploy the law's under-16 parental-consent process during the litigation.
Second-order effects
- The decision gives challengers of comparable state rules another judicial outcome to cite, while states pursuing youth-online-safety laws face a higher risk of delayed implementation.
- Platforms have less immediate reason to build Ohio-specific consent flows, though they still must track divergent state proposals and ongoing cases.
Third-order effects
- The case underscores that access-control regulation is becoming a constitutional testing ground for youth-safety policy, not simply a product-compliance exercise.
- The legal path remains unsettled: a later appellate reversal allowing Ohio's law to proceed shows that injunctions may not settle the viability of state age- and consent-based rules.
The trend: States are increasingly testing youth social-media protections through age and parental-consent requirements, with courts determining how far those controls can reach.