In a significant development for social media operators, a divided panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has revived Ohio's Social Media Parental Notification Act. In NetChoice, LLC v. Yost, the panel reversed the lower court's injunction that had blocked enforcement of the statute and directed entry of judgment in favor of the Ohio Attorney General. The decision restores the state's authority to require verifiable parental consent before children under the age of 16 may create accounts on covered platforms.
The Act imposes direct obligations on the design and operation of consumer-facing account creation systems. Covered platforms must, at the point of registration, confirm that a prospective user is at least 16 years old or, where the user is younger, obtain verifiable consent from a parent or legal guardian. As a practical matter, compliance will require operators to reassess their age-assurance mechanisms, account creation workflows, notice and disclosure practices, and the underlying vendor arrangements that support identity verification and parental consent capture.
The enforcement stakes are substantial. Following an initial cure period, the Act authorizes civil penalties of up to $10,000 per day per affected child. Given the volume of account registrations that even mid-sized platforms process daily, exposure can accumulate quickly, and the per-child structure of the penalty means that liability scales with the size of a platform's Ohio minor user base. Operators should assume that the Ohio Attorney General will move to enforce the reinstated law once the initial cure window has run its course.
Social media operators serving Ohio users should treat implementation as a business-critical priority. Immediate steps include confirming whether the platform falls within the Act's scope, mapping current age-verification and consent flows against the statutory requirements, engaging qualified verification vendors, updating terms of service and privacy notices, and preparing internal escalation and cure procedures. Companies should also monitor further proceedings in NetChoice v. Yost, as additional appellate activity remains possible.
This alert is provided for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Clients should consult counsel for guidance tailored to their specific platforms, user populations, and compliance posture.