Ohio sued over social media parental notification law that takes effect on Jan. 15

“Ohio lawmakers have launched a crusade that would barricade digital tools and services behind walls that violate constitutional rights, compromises data privacy and security for Ohioans of all ages and usurps the rights of parents to raise and care for their children as they see fit,” the trade association wrote on X.

The association, which boasts Meta, Google, X, Snapchat, TikTok and many other industry leaders as members, said it successfully fought similar legislation in California and Arkansas.

Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, the chief proponent of Ohio’s regulation, called the filing “cowardly, but not unexpected.”

“The law simply requires parental consent before children under the age of 16 sign up on social media and other online platforms,” Husted wrote in a statement. “In filing this lawsuit, these companies are determined to go around parents to expose children to harmful content and addict them to their platforms. These companies know that they are harming our children with addictive algorithms with catastrophic health and mental health outcomes.”

In practice, the law will likely lead to many sites asking users to upload photos or scans of government-issued IDs or other pieces of sensitive information in order to verify a new user’s age. NetChoice, which called the regulation the “Invasion of Privacy Act,” raised concerns about the risk that brings to both Ohioans and to the social media companies storing the data.

“Forcing tech companies to host this sensitive data about all users — adults and children — will make them a prime target for cyber criminals and predators,” the association wrote.

Along with the parental consent aspect of the regulation, Ohio law would also require platforms to notify a parent when a minor under 16′s account is created. Parents would have the power to revoke their consent at any given time and request that their child’s account be deleted. Under the law, if operators didn’t act quickly enough, the state could then seek punitive fines up to $10,000 per per day.

Husted said research has clearly indicated that excessive social media use — which he believes could be fettered by giving parents the right tools — can lead to academic struggles, poor sleep, body image issues, mental health problems and more.

“They need to drop this lawsuit so that we can move forward with the Social Media Parental Notification Act that makes parents part of the equation,” Husted wrote.

NetChoice said it is aligned with the state in wanting to protect children and believes Husted and other proponents are acting in good faith, but said the state’s regulation takes the wrong path.

“Ohioans do not have to choose between protecting their kids online, their constitutional rights or their personal privacy,” the association wrote.