Court Orders Ohio Restrictions on Kids’ Use of Social Media Restored
A divided Sixth Circuit panel ruled the parental-consent law constitutional, reversing an earlier enforcement block.
A divided Sixth Circuit panel ruled the parental-consent law constitutional, reversing an earlier enforcement block.
COLUMBUS, Ohio, June 19, 2026 (AP) — Ohio's law requiring children under 16 to get parental consent to use social media apps must be restored, a divided panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.
The decision comes as a blow to NetChoice, which has won court victories against identical digital identification laws in other states, including Arkansas, Louisiana and Georgia. The trade group representing TikTok, Snapchat, Meta and other major tech companies said the Ohio decision went against “clear national consensus” and that it intended to keep fighting.
Cuts to federal benefits could push 233,000 households off broadband, researcher warns.
The agency ordered the companies to begin arbitration
The debate reflects broader tensions over technology and local impact.
Congress keeps asking how to build faster, but nobody has defined how much delay or funding variance the system will tolerate before escalation is automatic.