Virginia state officials are taking their fight to limit children’s social media usage to a federal appeals court after a judge blocked their controversial new law.
The Commonwealth filed an appeal on Tuesday, asking the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond to overturn a preliminary injunction issued February 27 by U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles in Alexandria.
The disputed legislation, which former Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin signed into law last May, would have restricted minors under 16 to just 60 minutes of social media access per day. The measure also mandated age verification for all platform users and went into effect at the beginning of this year.
Youngkin and supporters crafted the law to protect young people from what they described as social media’s “addictive” features and to safeguard children’s mental wellbeing.
However, NetChoice, an industry organization representing major tech companies including Google, Meta Platforms (which owns Facebook and Instagram), and Elon Musk’s X platform, challenged the restrictions in court. The group argued Virginia’s law infringed on First Amendment protections by limiting access to legally protected speech, maintaining that parents should make these decisions for their families.
Judge Giles, who was nominated by former Democratic President Joe Biden, acknowledged the state’s legitimate concerns about protecting children from social media dependency but ruled that Virginia’s approach was overly broad.
The federal appeals court will now determine whether NetChoice has strong grounds for their constitutional challenge to succeed.
