Sixth Circuit Revives Ohio Parental Consent Law for Kids

A federal appeals court has revived an Ohio law requiring parental consent for children under 16 to use social media, overturning a lower court's block and handing a significant victory to state officials. The ruling, issued by a divided panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday, June 18, 2026, allows the state to begin enforcing the Social Media Parental Notification Act.

The 2-1 decision found the law constitutional, rejecting arguments from the tech industry trade group NetChoice that the statute was overly broad, vague, and violated First Amendment free speech protections. The law, enacted in July 2023, compels social media and gaming companies to obtain verifiable parental permission before a minor can create or use an account and to disclose their privacy and content moderation guidelines to families.

Writing for the majority, Judge Eric Clay stated that the law imposes a parental consent requirement that constitutes a marginal burden targeting a specific problem: children's unsupervised agreement to terms for platforms that can harm them. Judge Alice Batchelder concurred, noting that a statute is not vague simply because it has a wide scope. The dissenting...