Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones is preparing to fight Google, Youtube and Meta to defend a new state law requiring the social media platforms to limit kids and teens to an hour per day of screen time, without parental consent to additional time.
“As a father, there is nothing more important to me than the emotional, mental and physical safety of our children. Today’s announcement ensures that parents and caregivers have the final say in how much social media content their children consume, not the unscrupulous tech companies,” said Jones, who took office on Jan. 17.
The Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act took effect on Jan. 1. The law requires social media platforms to use “commercially reasonable methods, such as a neutral age screen mechanism, to determine whether a user is a minor younger than 16” and “to limit a minor’s use of social media platform to one hour per day, per service or application.”
Verifiable parental consent is required to increase or decrease the daily time limit.
Violations of the state law could result in up to $7,500 in civil penalties for each violation, as well as injunctive relief to stop social media platforms from continuing to violate the law.
Report violations
- Families are encouraged to report violations to the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Section by filing an online complaint.
- In addition, families can call the Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-552-9963 if calling from Virginia, or (804) 786-2042 if calling from the Richmond area or from outside Virginia.
NetChoice, a trade association for social media companies, filed a suit in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia in November to attempt to block the law from going into effect.
“Virginia’s government cannot force you to read a book in one-hour chunks, and it cannot force you to watch a movie or documentary in state-preferred increments. That does not change when the speech in question happens online,” said Paul Taske, co-director of the NetChoice Litigation Center.
“Virginia must leave the parenting decisions where they belong: with parents,” Taske said. “By asserting that authority for itself, Virginia not only violates its citizens’ rights to free speech but also exposes them to increased risk of privacy and security breaches. We look forward to defending Virginians’ First Amendment rights in court.”
Jason Miyares, Jones’s predecessor as attorney general, defended the law on behalf of the Commonwealth, one sign that this is a bipartisan effort here.
Another sign that this is bipartisan: the bill passed both houses of the General Assembly last year unanimously.
Not a single objection.
On top of Miyares and Jones being on the same side.
U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles signaled that a written opinion was to come after hearing oral arguments on Jan. 16.
Jones has since had his office file a motion to dismiss the lawsuit entirely.
The latest activity in the case dates to Feb. 4, when Giles ordered that there would be no briefings on Jones’s motion to dismiss until a ruling is made on a pending motion for a preliminary injunction.
At stake is an effort by state lawmakers to protect kids and teens from spending too much time on their screens, for their own benefit.
A study from the Mayo Clinic tells us that kids and teens who are on their phones two hours or more per day have increased risks of anxiety, depression, obesity and issues with sleep, in addition to impaired cognitive development.
Five hours or more per day of screen time has been linked to increased suicidal ideation in kids and teens.
“By enforcing our consumer protection laws, Virginia can and will take meaningful steps to protect our children and hold bad actors accountable,” Jones said.
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Chris Graham
