Mississippi’s Social Media Age Law Takes Effect, for Now
Editors carefully fact-check all Consumer Notice, LLC content for accuracy and quality.
Consumer Notice, LLC has a stringent fact-checking process. It starts with our strict sourcing guidelines.
We only gather information from credible sources. This includes peer-reviewed medical journals, reputable media outlets, government reports, court records and interviews with qualified experts.
A federal judge has cleared the way for Mississippi to start enforcing a controversial law requiring social media users to verify their age. The decision is part of a growing legal clash over how much states can limit online access in the name of protecting children.
The 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals overturned a lower court’s ruling that had temporarily blocked the law, which was set to take effect in 2024. Supporters say that the law helps protect teens and children from the harmful effects of social media. Critics say it infringes on privacy and freedom of speech.
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch pushed for the law, saying it’s needed to prevent “sex trafficking, sexual abuse, child pornography, targeted harassment, sextortion, incitement to suicide and self-harm, and other harmful and often illegal conduct against children.”
Supreme Court May Decide Fate of State Age Laws
NetChoice, a tech industry group representing companies such as Meta, Snapchat and Google, filed an emergency application with the U.S. Supreme Court in response to the ruling. The group is asking the high court to reinstate the injunction and block Mississippi’s law from taking effect.
This is the first social media age-verification case to reach the Supreme Court. The outcome could set a national precedent for how far states can go in regulating access to online social media platforms.
Mississippi is one of several states enacting age-verification laws targeting social media. According to the AP, NetChoice is challenging similar laws in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Ohio and Utah. The group argues that these laws violate First Amendment rights and could lead to unintended censorship of lawful content.
In the Mississippi case, NetChoice warned that platforms might restrict access to content ranging from the U.S. Declaration of Independence and Sherlock Holmes to The Goonies and Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department album because of the risk of liability due to vague standards.
Paul Taske, co-director of the NetChoice Litigation Center, said the group is “very disappointed” in the court’s decision to allow Mississippi’s law to take effect.
“NetChoice will continue to fight against this egregious infringement on access to fully protected speech online,” he said in a written statement after the one-sentence ruling was released. “Parents – not the government – should determine what is right for their families.”
Mental Health Lawsuits Add Pressure on Big Tech
Tech companies are facing a separate wave of litigation over social media’s impact on young users. As of July 2025, over 1,800 social media harm lawsuits were pending in multidistrict litigation in the Northern District of California. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers is overseeing the case.
These social media harm lawsuits argue that heavy social media use contributes to a range of mental health problems in children and teens. Issues include social media addiction, anxiety, body dysmorphia, depression, eating disorders, low self-esteem and suicidal ideation.
What Families Can Do Now To Mitigate Harm
While courts continue to address legal questions about social media, parents don’t have to wait for new laws to take action. Families can take steps now to help protect kids from the harmful effects of social media.
Suggestions for protecting children from social media harm include:
- Setting Time Limits: The World Health Organization recommends limited screen time for young children. Additionally, the American Psychological Association recommends limiting social media use for kids and teens.
- Talking About Misinformation: Discuss how to think critically about media and vetting sources.
- Choosing Positive Sources: Direct teens to body-positive accounts that counter negative messaging.
If children who use social media become disinterested in face-to-face interactions, ignore daily routines, lose sleep or miss physical activity, those could be signs of problematic use that require limits to be enforced by an adult.
