--- title: 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 collection: bills id: 2025-2026/sb343 cite_as: SB 343, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb343 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb343.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb343/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71477 date: 2025-03-20 status: introduced corpus_version: bills-2026-08-28 license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb342.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb344.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 95 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb343.md?full=1 bill_number: SB 343 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: Senate bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-03-19 last_action: Senate Read and Referred sponsors: - Bo Hatchett - Brian Strickland - Blake Tillery text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB343/2025 upstream_id: 2011428 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - social media regulation - children's online safety - parental consent - age verification --- # 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 ## Text 25 LC 56 0265 Senate Bill 343 By: Senators Hatchett of the 50th, Strickland of the 42nd and Tillery of the 19th A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Code Section 39-6-2 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to age1 verification of account holders, minors, and information relati ng to available content2 censorship or moderation features, so as to prohibit providers of social media platforms from3 permitting a minor aged 14 years or younger to be an account ho lder; to provide for an4 effective date; to provide for related matters; to repeal confl icting laws; and for other5 purposes.6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:7 SECTION 1.8 Code Section 39-6-2 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to age verification9 of account holders, minors, and information relating to availab le content censorship or10 moderation features, is amended by revising subsection (c) as follows:11 "(c) No provider of a social media platform shall permit a minor aged 14 years or younger12 to be an account holder. No provider of a social media platform shall permit a minor older13 than 14 years of age to be an account holder unless such provider obtains the expre ss14 consent of such minor's parent or guardian. Acceptable methods of obtaining express15 consent from a parent or guardian include:16 S. B. 343 - 1 - 25 LC 56 0265 (1) Providing a form for the minor's parent or guardian to sig n and return to the social17 media platform by common carrier, facsimile, email, or scanning;18 (2) Providing a toll-free telephone number for the minor's parent or guardian to call to19 consent;20 (3) Coordinating a call with the minor's parent or guardian us ing videoconferencing21 technology;22 (4) Collecting information related to the minor's parent's or guardian's government issued23 identification or financial or payment card information and del eting such information24 after confirming the identity of the parent or guardian;25 (5) Allowing the minor's parent or guardian to provide consent by responding to an email26 and taking additional steps to verify the parent's or guardian's identity; and27 (6) Any other commercially reasonable method of obtaining cons ent using available28 technology."29 SECTION 2.30 This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2025.31 SECTION 3.32 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.33 S. B. 343 - 2 - ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary. A Georgia Senate bill would ban children aged 14 and younger from having accounts on social media platforms, while keeping current parental-consent rules for older minors. ### Plain-language summary 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. ### What it does - 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. ### Who it affects 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. ### Why it matters 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. ### Key provisions - 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. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2025-03-19) - Last action: Senate Read and Referred (2025-03-20) - Sponsors: Bo Hatchett, Brian Strickland, Blake Tillery - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71477 > The history, votes, and amendments (95 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb343.md?full=1