Georgia CommonsSenate · Introduced · 2025-2026 Regular Session
SB 343: 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
Last action March 20, 2025 · Senate Read and Referred
A Georgia Senate bill would ban children aged 14 and younger from having social media accounts, while continuing to allow older minors to join with parental consent.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Introduced version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
Georgia law already requires social media platforms to get parental consent before letting a minor hold an account, and this section lists ways platforms can collect that consent, such as signed forms, phone calls, video chats, or verifying a parent's ID. This bill changes that framework for the youngest users. Instead of allowing consent-based access for all minors, the bill would flatly prohibit social media providers from letting anyone 14 years old or younger hold an account at all, no parental consent option. Minors older than 14 could still get accounts if a parent or guardian consents through one of the existing approved methods. The change would take effect July 1, 2025, and the bill repeals any conflicting Georgia laws.
What the bill does
- Bans social media platforms from allowing any account holder who is 14 years old or younger, removing the parental consent option for that age group.
- Keeps the existing rule that minors older than 14 may hold accounts only if a parent or guardian gives express consent.
- Preserves the six existing methods platforms can use to collect parental consent, including signed forms, phone calls, video calls, and ID verification.
- Sets the new rules to take effect July 1, 2025.
- Repeals any other Georgia laws that conflict with this change.
Who it affects
Social media platform providers operating in Georgia, minors aged 14 and younger who currently or would otherwise hold accounts, minors older than 14 who need parental consent, and parents or guardians who must verify and approve their older children's accounts.
Why it matters
Georgia families with children 14 and under would see those children barred from holding social media accounts entirely, regardless of parental permission. Platforms operating in Georgia would need to verify user ages and block or remove underage account holders to comply.
Key provisions
- Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 39-6-2(c) to add a flat prohibition on social media providers permitting account holders aged 14 or younger.
- Section 1 retains the requirement that providers get express parental or guardian consent for minors older than 14 before allowing an account.
- Section 1 keeps intact the six listed acceptable methods for obtaining parental consent, unchanged from current law.
- Section 2 sets the effective date as July 1, 2025.
- Section 3 repeals any conflicting state laws.
From the bill
“No provider of a social media platform shall permit a minor aged 14 years or younger to be an account holder.”
Discussed in meetings (1)
The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.
Senate Children and Families Committee, February 10, 2026
From 0:36:51 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor presented a substitute replacing the original account ban for children 14 and younger with restrictions on addictive design features for minors. The sponsor said it would prohibit infinite scrolling, autoplay, engagement-maximizing feeds and late-night notifications, require reasonable age checks without government-ID uploads, and allow enforcement only by the attorney general. The sponsor linked these features to youth mental-health harms and said the rewrite sought to avoid constitutional problems with access bans. A witness for the Electronic Privacy Information Center supported the goal but said the substitute lacked location-data and privacy protections and could let children bypass protections by reporting a false age. The witness favored an unfiled alternative requiring companies to use information they already have about users’ ages. Asked whether attorney-general-only enforcement had succeeded, the witness said no and supported allowing families to sue. A committee member developing the alternative said either proposal could move forward after improvements. A Georgia Baptist Mission Board witness supported restrictions to protect children from harmful online exposure. Two AllSafe App witnesses supported the legislation and described private counseling and crisis-prevention tools. An ACLU of Georgia witness said the organization had planned to oppose the original bill, would review the substitute, and urged protection of young people’s free-speech rights. No vote was taken.
Status timeline
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- Senate Hopper (Senate)
Sponsors
- Bo Hatchett (R, SD-50)
- Brian Strickland (R, SD-42)
- Blake Tillery (R, SD-19)
Topics
- social media regulation
- minors online safety
- parental consent
- age verification