The tech group NetChoice has asked a federal judge to block a Virginia law requiring social platforms to verify users' ages and prohibit teens under 16 from accessing the platforms
for more than one hour a day without parental consent.
The law, SB 854, was passed earlier this year and
will take effect in January, unless blocked.
NetChoice sued over the statute earlier this month, arguing that it violates the First Amendment. On Friday, the group sought a
preliminary injunction prohibiting the state from enforcing the law while the case is pending.
"If the Attorney General is not enjoined from enforcing the law, SB 854’s
restrictions will cause an irreparable loss of First Amendment freedoms on a massive scale," NetChoice argues in papers filed with U.S. District Court Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles in Alexandria.
The organization -- which counts Google, Meta, Snap and other big tech companies as members, argues that the statute will impose "significant irrecoverable compliance costs" if it
takes effect.
advertisement
advertisement
What's more, NetChoice argues, the law will also harm Virginia residents -- adults as well as teens.
The group writes that the statute
will "cut off" minors in the state from "vital channels of communication, education, and self-expression that their peers in other states may still access," and will also "impose burdensome age
verification on millions of adults."
NetChoice adds that the law would restrict access to educational and religious material, among other services.
"SB
854, for instance, would bar a 15-year-old from spending more than one hour a day on YouTube watching online church services, even if the minor does not spend time on YouTube otherwise," NetChoice
writes. "It would prevent a 15-year-old interested in becoming an attorney from watching proceedings in the Fourth Circuit, which streams its oral arguments live on YouTube. And it would require a
14-year-old to obtain parental consent before spending an hour watching a candidate’s speech or a political debate on Facebook, even if the minor does not use social media otherwise."
Giles has not yet indicated when she will rule on NetChoice's request.