Social Media Lobby Fights to Strike Down Ohio, Tennessee Laws

A trade group representing the largest social media companies found itself on offense and defense Wednesday as it argued that Ohio and Tennessee’s laws aimed at preventing harm to children are unconstitutional.

An attorney for NetChoice LLC told a panel of judges at the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit that Ohio’s law requiring children under 16 years old who want to use social media platforms to obtain parental consent was properly struck down by a trial court for violating the First Amendment. Conversely, Tennessee’s law requiring parental consent for most minors to use social media sites and ...