A tech industry powerhouse representing Meta, Google and other online giants has launched a high-stakes constitutional battle against Virginia, arguing that the state’s new restrictions on minors’ access to social media trample free-speech rights and threaten digital privacy.
Trade Group Moves to Block Law Set for January
NetChoice LLC filed a 41-page complaint in Virginia federal court Monday, seeking to stop Senate Bill 854 from taking effect on Jan. 1. The measure—signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin in May—orders platforms to dramatically curb screen time for younger teens, limiting users under 16 to one hour per day unless parents explicitly approve additional time.
The lawsuit likens the law to past waves of moral panic, noting how generations once blamed books, rock music and video games for corrupting youth. Now, it says, social media is the newest target of political fear.
NetChoice Argues Law Violates First Amendment Rights
“Government Cannot Step Into the Parent’s Chair”
Calling the statute “the latest attempt to restrict constitutionally protected expression,” NetChoice argues that SB 854 unlawfully blocks minors from accessing lawful content and simultaneously censors companies trying to reach those users.
The suit anchors its argument in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2011 ruling in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, which held that states cannot prevent children from expressing or receiving lawful speech without parental permission.
“Virginia may wish that more Virginians shared its own views,” the complaint states, “but it may not take matters into its own hands and restrict access itself.”
NetChoice says its member companies—Google, YouTube, Meta, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit and X—already offer parental controls, making government-imposed limits unnecessary and unconstitutional.
