A federal appeals court has cleared the way for Georgia to enforce a law requiring social media platforms to verify users' ages, reversing a lower court ruling that had kept the measure frozen for more than a year. The decision marks a significant turn in one of the more closely watched legal fights over how far states can go in regulating minors' access to online platforms, and it signals that similar laws in other states may find firmer footing than previously assumed.
The law at the center of the dispute, SB 351, was passed by Georgia lawmakers in 2024. It requires social media companies to make "commercially reasonable efforts" to verify a user's age, mandates parental consent for users under 16, and restricts how companies can target advertising to or collect data from younger users. NetChoice, a trade group representing major technology companies, sued to block the law before it took effect, arguing it violated free speech protections and would chill anonymous expression online. For users increasingly aware of how much personal data platforms collect during verification processes, the case has renewed interest in tools like a VPN aimed at travellers, which can mask location and device details even as identity-verification requirements tighten elsewhere online. a VPN aimed at travellers
A Year of Legal Back-and-Forth
U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg initially sided with NetChoice, issuing an injunction that halted the law just before its scheduled July 2025 start date. In her ruling, Totenberg wrote that Georgia's approach amounted to erecting "barriers to speech that cannot withstand the rigorous scrutiny that the Constitution requires," finding that the law restricted minors' rights, discouraged anonymous online speech, and limited the ability of users to receive content from social platforms. That reasoning echoed arguments courts have used in other states to strike down similar age-verification statutes, many of which have faced comparable First Amendment challenges since 2023.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit took a different view. In its ruling, the panel found that NetChoice had not adequately shown that enforcing the law would be unconstitutional across the board. The judges noted that not all activity on social platforms qualifies as fully protected speech, pointing out that some platforms host content, including pornography, that carries different legal protections for minors than for adults. The court also faulted NetChoice for failing to detail the full scope of its membership affected by the law, undermining its claim of broad, uniform harm.
What Happens Next
With the injunction vacated, SB 351 returns to district court for further proceedings, meaning the law is not yet fully in effect but is no longer blocked outright. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr praised the ruling as a win for families, framing the law as a necessary response to online risks facing children. The case now joins a growing body of litigation testing how courts balance child safety concerns against free expression and privacy rights, a tension that is likely to shape digital policy debates well beyond Georgia's borders.
