Social Media Laws for Minors by State (2026): Which Are in Force and Which Are Blocked
Florida's under-14 ban is in force after a 14 October 2026 ruling; Georgia's returned a day later. Every state law on kids and social media, with its court status.
Muhammad Shahzeb·
Published
·10 min read
The short answer
As of 16 October 2026 there is no federal social media age ban, but many states have their own laws. Florida bars under-14s from social media accounts and needs parental consent at 14 and 15, in force after an appeals court lifted the block on 14 October 2026; Georgia's parental-consent law for under-16s returned on 15 October. Laws in Virginia, Arkansas, Ohio, Utah and Colorado are blocked in court, and Texas's app store age-check law is in force.
The United States has no federal law banning children from social media. Instead, states have passed their own, and nearly every one has been challenged in court. This page lists each law with what it requires and its court status as of 16 October 2026.
What changed this month
- Florida (14 October 2026). The 11th Circuit reversed the injunction against HB 3, so its under-14 ban and parental consent for 14 and 15 year olds can be enforced.
- Georgia (15 October 2026). The 11th Circuit vacated the injunction against its law requiring parental consent before under-16s open accounts.
Every state law
| State | Law | What it requires | Ages | Status | Latest court action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | App Store Accountability Act, HB 161 (2026 Regular Session) | App stores must request and verify age category at account creation, link minors to a parent account and get verifiable parental consent for downloads/purchases; developers must use the app store's age data. AG enforces and adopts rules. | categories: under 13, 13-15, 16-17, 18+ (minor = under 18) | Not yet in effect | none known |
| Arkansas | Act 900 of 2025 (amends the Social Media Safety Act) | Platforms must avoid practices that 'evoke any addiction or compulsive behaviors' in minors and provide a parental dashboard with use data and restriction tools. | under 18 | Enjoined | 2026-04-20, W.D. Ark. preliminary injunction (NetChoice v. Griffin); Arkansas appealed - consolidated 8th Cir. appeal with Act 901 (Arkansas brief 2026-08-10, NetChoice brief 2026-10-09) |
| Arkansas | Act 901 of 2025 | Lets parents sue platforms whose design, algorithm or feature causes a minor to develop an addiction, self-harm or eating disorder; fines up to $10,000 per violation. | under 18 | Enjoined | 2025-12-15, W.D. Ark. preliminary injunction; 8th Cir. appeal (No. 26-1096) consolidated with Act 900, briefing through 2026-10-09 |
| Arkansas | Social Media Safety Act - Act 689 of 2023 (SB 396) | Age verification for all account holders and parental consent for minors. | under 18 | Struck down | 2025-03-31, W.D. Ark. permanent injunction declaring Act 689 unconstitutional; Arkansas appeal pending at 8th Cir. (reply brief filed 2026-02-26) |
| California | California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, AB 2273 (Ch. 320, Stats. 2022; Civil Code 1798.99.28 et seq.) | Businesses with online services likely accessed by children: age estimation (or treat all users as children), high-privacy defaults, data-use limits, no dark patterns, DPIAs. | under 18 | Partly enjoined | 2026-03-12 9th Cir. (No. 25-2366) affirmed in part and vacated in part the second preliminary injunction: vacated as to the whole Act and the age-estimation requirement; affirmed as to data-use and dark-patterns restrictions (vagueness); remanded. |
| California | Digital Age Assurance Act, AB 1043 (Ch. 675, Stats. 2025; Civil Code 1798.500 et seq.) | OS providers must ask the account holder for the user's birth date/age at device setup and send an age-bracket signal via API to developers, who must request it when an app is downloaded and launched. | brackets: under 13, 13-15, 16-17, 18+ | Not yet in effect | none known |
| California | Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act, SB 976 (Ch. 321, Stats. 2024; Health & Safety Code 27000 et seq.) | No addictive (personalized) feed or night/school-hours notifications to minors without verifiable parental consent; default settings incl. private mode; from 2027 operators must reasonably determine age under AG regulations. | under 18 | Partly enjoined | 2026-08-21 N.D. Cal. (Judge Davila) denied Meta, TikTok and Google/YouTube motions for injunction pending appeal, after the 2026-08-05 order denying their preliminary injunctions; Ninth Circuit appeals by those platforms pending. Separately, NetChoice filed a first amended complaint on 2026-10-13. |
| California | Social Media Warning Law, AB 56 (Ch. 671, Stats. 2025; Health & Safety Code 28000 et seq.) | Black-box Surgeon General warning on first daily access (10 s, 25% of screen), then after 3 hours of cumulative use and hourly after that (30 s, 75% of screen, no click-through). | all users unless platform has reasonably determined the user is over 17 | Not yet in effect | none known |
| Colorado | Healthier Social Media Use by Youth, HB24-1136 | For users under 18, pop-up notification every 30 minutes after 1 hour of use in 24 hours or during 10 p.m.-6 a.m., with information on social media's mental-health effects. | under 18 | Enjoined | 2025-11-06 D. Colo. granted NetChoice a preliminary injunction; State's appeal to 10th Cir. (No. 25-1456) fully briefed 2026-08-14, no decision found. |
| Florida | HB 3 (2024) - Online Protections for Minors (social media part) | Covered platforms must bar account creation by under-14s and require parental consent for 14- and 15-year-olds. | under 14 banned; 14-15 need parental consent | In effect | 2026-10-14, 11th Cir. (CCIA & NetChoice v. Uthmeier, No. 25-11881) reversed the 2025-06-03 district-court preliminary injunction, holding HB 3 likely constitutional; the injunction had already been stayed 2025-11-25; case returns to district court |
| Georgia | Protecting Georgia's Children on Social Media Act (SB 351, 2024) | Platforms must verify users' ages, get parental consent before under-16s open accounts, and limit personal data used for ads to under-16s. | under 16 | In effect | 2026-10-15, 11th Cir. (No. 25-12436) vacated Judge Totenberg's 2025-06-26 preliminary injunction (N.D. Ga.) and remanded; rejected vagueness and Section 230 theories |
| Louisiana | Louisiana App Store Accountability Act - Act 185 of 2026 (HB 977), repealing and re-enacting Act 481 of 2025 (HB 570) | App stores must verify each new account holder's age category, link minors to a parent account and get verifiable parental consent; developers must use the store's age signal. AG enforces; fines up to $10,000 per violation. | under 18 (child, younger teen, older teen categories) | Not yet in effect | none known |
| Louisiana | Secure Online Child Interaction and Age Limitation Act - Act 456 of 2023 (SB 162), La. R.S. 51:1751-1756 | Platforms must verify age and obtain parental consent for minors' accounts, with limits on ads and messaging for minors. | under 16 | Struck down | 2025-12-15, M.D. La. (Judge deGravelles) granted NetChoice summary judgment and permanently enjoined enforcement against NetChoice members; Louisiana appeal pending at 5th Cir. (No. 26-30016; NetChoice brief filed 2026-05-26) |
| Maryland | Maryland Kids Code, HB 603 (Ch. 461, 2024) | Online products reasonably likely to be accessed by children: best-interests duty, data protection impact assessments, high-privacy defaults, limits on profiling/data collection, no dark patterns. | under 18 | In effect | 2026-07-07 D. Md. (No. RDB-25-0322) granted NetChoice leave to file a second amended complaint; earlier, 2025-11-24, denied Maryland's motion to dismiss. No injunction. |
| Minnesota | Social media mental-health warning label, HF 2 (2025), Section 13 | Platforms must show a conspicuous mental-health warning label (text set by the Health Department) each time a user accesses the platform. | all users (not limited to minors, per news reports) | In effect | 2026-08-12 D. Minn. (NetChoice v. Ellison, 26-cv-2405) Minnesota filed its reply on its amended motion to dismiss; no ruling found. AG has agreed not to enforce until the court rules. |
| Mississippi | Walker Montgomery Protecting Children Online Act (HB 1126, 2024) | Platforms must make commercially reasonable efforts to verify every account holder's age and get parental consent for minors' accounts. | under 18 | In effect | 2026-02-03, 5th Cir. heard Mississippi's appeal of the 2025-06-18 preliminary injunction; injunction stayed 2025-07-17 and U.S. Supreme Court denied NetChoice's emergency application 2025-08-14; no 5th Cir. decision found as of 2026-10-16 |
| Nebraska | Age-Appropriate Online Design Code Act, LB 504 (2025), amended by LB 838 (2026) | Covered online services must use reasonable care in design, default privacy/parental tools, limit minors' data use, avoid dark patterns; AG enforcement up to $50,000 per violation. | under 18 | In effect | none known |
| Nebraska | Parental Rights in Social Media Act, LB 383 (2025), secs. 26-30 | Social media platforms must use reasonable age verification for new account holders, get express parental consent for minors, and give parents tools to view minors' posts/messages and limit use. | under 18 | Partly enjoined | 2026-06-27 D. Neb. (Judge Gerrard, No. 4:26-cv-3149) preliminarily enjoined the age-verification (§ 28(1)(a)) and parental-consent (§ 28(2)) provisions; parental-monitoring provisions may be enforced. Cross-appeals to the 8th Cir. filed 2026-07-23 (AG) and 2026-07-24 (NetChoice). |
| New York | New York Child Data Protection Act, S7695-B (Ch. 121 of 2024; GBL 899-ee et seq.) | Operators may not process minors' personal data unless strictly necessary or with informed consent (COPPA rules for under 13); no sale of minors' data. | under 18 (13-17 consent for themselves; under 13 via COPPA) | In effect | none known |
| New York | Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act (GBL Art. 45, 1500 et seq.; AG rules 13 NYCRR 700.1-700.11) | No algorithmic feeds or midnight-6 a.m. notifications to under-18 users without age assurance showing adult or parental consent; AG rules set age-assurance accuracy, testing and data-deletion duties. | under 18 | Not yet in effect | none known |
| Ohio | Parental Notification by Social Media Operators Act, HB 33 (2023) (R.C. 1349.09) | Operators must obtain verifiable parental consent before a child under 16 contracts to use the platform, and give parents content controls. | under 16 | Enjoined | 2026-08-17 6th Cir. granted NetChoice's motion to stay the mandate, so its 2026-06-18 decision (No. 25-3371) reversing the S.D. Ohio permanent injunction does not yet take effect, pending a Supreme Court petition. |
| South Carolina | Age-Appropriate Code Design Act, H.3431 (2026) | Services reasonably likely to be accessed by minors: reasonable care in data use and design features, default protections, easy privacy tools. | under 18 | In effect | 2026-04-20 D.S.C. (NetChoice v. Wilson, 3:26-cv-00543) NetChoice reply filed on its preliminary injunction motion of 2026-03-09; no ruling found. |
| Tennessee | Protecting Children from Social Media Act (2024 Tenn. Pub. Acts ch. 899; Tenn. Code 47-18-5701 to -5706) | Platforms must verify ages of new account holders, obtain parental consent for minors, and give parents supervision tools. | under 18 | In effect | 2026-08-28, 6th Cir. (No. 25-5660, 2-1) vacated the district court's 2025-06-18 denial of a preliminary injunction and remanded for the court to weigh the other factors; no injunction currently in place |
| Texas | App Store Accountability Act (SB 2420, 89th Leg., 2025; Bus. & Com. Code ch. 121) | App stores must verify age and obtain parental consent (via a linked parent account) before minors download or buy apps; developers must use the age signal and get consent for significant changes. | under 18 | In effect | 2026-08-04, 5th Cir. heard argument on the merits of the preliminary-injunction appeal (Nos. 25-51073 / 26-50001); no merits opinion as of 2026-10-13. Earlier: 2026-07-06 U.S. Supreme Court denied applications to vacate the stay |
| Texas | SCOPE Act - Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment (HB 18, 88th Leg., 2023) | Digital service providers must register users' age, limit data collection/targeted ads for known minors, give parents tools, and monitor/filter listed harmful content for minors. | under 18 | Partly enjoined | 2026-07-24, 5th Cir. (Nos. 24-50721 / 25-50096, consolidated with SEAT v. Paxton) affirmed the preliminary injunction against the monitoring-and-filtering requirement and vacated/remanded in part; Texas petitioned for rehearing en banc 2026-08-28 (NetChoice/CCIA opposition filed 2026-09-24), pending |
| Utah | App Store Accountability Act (SB 142, 2025), amended by HB 498 (2026) | App stores must verify users' age category and link minors' accounts to a parent account with verifiable parental consent before downloads/purchases; developers must use the store's age signal. | under 18 | Not yet in effect | 2026-04-21, CCIA voluntarily dismissed its First Amendment challenge (D. Utah) after HB 498 removed the Attorney General's enforcement power |
| Utah | Utah Minor Protection in Social Media Act (SB 194 + HB 464, 2024), which repealed and replaced the 2023 Social Media Regulation Act (SB 152 / HB 311) | Platforms must use age assurance, give minors' accounts protective default privacy settings and disable certain engagement features absent parental consent. | under 18 | Enjoined | 2025-11-20, 10th Cir. (No. 24-4100) heard Utah's appeal of the 2024-09-10 preliminary injunction (D. Utah, Judge Shelby); no appellate decision found as of 2026-10-16 |
| Vermont | Vermont Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, S.69 (Act 63 of 2025; 9 V.S.A. 2449a-2449j) | Covered businesses likely accessed by minors owe minors a duty of care, must set high-privacy defaults, and are limited in profiling and data collection; AG rulemaking. | under 18 | Not yet in effect | none known |
| Virginia | SB 854 (2025), amending the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act | Platforms must use commercially reasonable age determination and default users under 16 to one hour per day per app unless a parent changes it. | under 16 | Enjoined | 2026-02-27, E.D. Va. granted NetChoice a preliminary injunction; Virginia appealed to the 4th Cir. 2026-03-03, briefing completed 2026-06-12; no 4th Cir. decision found |
Three kinds of law
- Account bans and parental consent put the duty on each platform: Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Ohio and others.
- Design codes and feed rules limit how platforms treat minors: California's addictive-feeds law and Age-Appropriate Design Code, New York's SAFE for Kids Act, Maryland's and Vermont's design codes, Virginia's one-hour default.
- App store laws move the age check to Apple and Google: Texas (in force), Alabama (January 2027), Utah (May 2027) and Louisiana (July 2027).
Not covered here
Arizona, Connecticut, Montana and several other states were not checked in this pass, so their absence from the table does not mean they have no law. Every country's national rule is in which countries ban social media for children, and each app's own minimum age is in how old you have to be for each app.
Sources
Each law links to the legislature, a court opinion or the published court filings that set its current status, checked on 16 October 2026. Court status changes often: check the latest ruling before relying on any row.