SB343: SB343 Age Verification of Account Holders; providers of social media platforms from permitting a minor aged 14 years or younger to be an account holder; prohibit

Georgia law already requires social media platforms to verify users' ages and get parental consent before minors can hold accounts. This bill changes that rule for younger children specifically. Senate Bill 343 rewrites part of that law (O.C.G.A. § 39-6-2) so that social media platforms are flatly barred from letting anyone aged 14 or younger be an account holder at all, regardless of parental consent. For minors older than 14, the existing rule stays in place: platforms may allow them to have accounts only if a parent or guardian gives express consent, using methods such as a signed form, a toll-free phone call, a video call, ID verification, or an email confirmation process. The bill would take effect July 1, 2025.

• Bars social media platforms from allowing any user aged 14 or younger to be an account holder, with no exception for parental consent.
• Keeps the existing requirement that platforms get a parent or guardian's express consent before letting a minor older than 14 hold an account.
• Preserves the list of acceptable methods for obtaining parental consent, including signed forms, phone calls, video calls, ID verification, and email confirmation.
• Sets the law's effective date as July 1, 2025.
• Repeals any existing Georgia laws that conflict with this change.

Social media platforms operating in Georgia, children aged 14 and younger who currently have or want accounts, minors older than 14 who need parental consent to sign up, and parents or guardians who must go through the consent process.

If enacted, children 14 and under would be locked out of social media accounts in Georgia entirely, changing how families, schools, and platforms handle youth access, while teens 15 to 17 would still be able to join with a parent's sign-off through several verification options.

• Section 1 revises subsection (c) of O.C.G.A. § 39-6-2 to prohibit platforms from permitting any minor aged 14 or younger to be an account holder.
• Section 1 retains the rule that minors older than 14 may hold accounts only with express parental or guardian consent.
• Section 1 lists six acceptable consent methods, including signed forms, toll-free calls, videoconferencing, ID or payment card verification, email confirmation, and other commercially reasonable methods.
• Section 2 sets the effective date as July 1, 2025.
• Section 3 repeals conflicting laws.

1. 2025-03-20Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-03-19Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Bo Hatchett (R, SD-050)Primary sponsor
• Brian Strickland (R, SD-042)
• Blake Tillery (R, SD-019)

• social media regulation
• children's online safety
• parental consent
• age verification