A federal judge on Feb. 27 barred a Virginia law aimed at lowering rates of social media addiction among children by requiring age verification for all users and permitting daily access for those under 16 of only one hour per platform.

The federal ruling pauses the state of Virginia’s imposition of restrictions on how citizens access social media, as NetChoice v. Miyares moves through the courts.

Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia handed down a preliminary injunction against Senate Bill 854. She said that the measure likely violates First Amendment free speech protections for minors and adults.

Then-Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed the law in May 2025. It went into effect on Jan. 1, 2026.

NetChoice filed the lawsuit. It is a trade group representing technology companies such as Google, Meta Platforms, Netflix, Reddit, and X.

Giles said the law went too far by requiring everyone, including adults, to verify their ages before accessing speech that is protected for everyone. She also said it didn’t go far enough by exempting addictive interactive gaming from coverage.

“The issues in this matter are not to be taken lightly,” Giles wrote. “The Court recognizes the Commonwealth’s compelling interest in protecting its youth from the harms associated with the addictive aspects of social media. However, it cannot infringe on First Amendment rights, including those of the same youth it aims to protect.”

She also said the law treats “functionally equivalent” speech differently, as minors, defined as those under 16, would be prohibited from watching history, science, or religious service videos that are more than an hour long on YouTube but could access the same or similar content on streaming platforms.

Virginia argued that the measure was a reasonable response to youth mental health issues tied to the addictive features of social media.

Paul Taske, codirector of NetChoice’s litigation center, said in a statement that the ruling upholds parental authority over government mandates.

“Fundamentally, parents must stay in the driver’s seat when it comes to decisions about their families,” Taske said. “This ruling reaffirms that the government cannot ration access to lawful speech—even if it has noble intentions.”

Taske added that unconstitutional laws do not help anyone.

“Moreover, laws requiring age-verification and other privacy-invasive measures actually make everyone less safe and more prone to data breaches,” he said. “We are seeing this in real time as countries around the world have started mandating similar privacy-destroying age-verification regimes.”

The injunction halts enforcement ahead of a full trial. Virginia could ultimately appeal the decision to the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Virginia’s law was one of many state initiatives in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 decisions affirming platforms’ editorial rights.