Virginia Moves to Put Parents Back in Charge of Teen Social Media Use

By Michael Phillips | VABayNews

Virginia is preparing to take one of the nation’s most direct steps yet to rein in excessive social media use by children — and the battle lines between parents, state lawmakers, and Big Tech are now clearly drawn.

A new law signed by Glenn Youngkin and scheduled to take effect January 1, 2026, will impose default daily time limits on social media platforms for users under 16. Supporters call it a long-overdue, pro-family safeguard. Critics argue it infringes on free speech and parental autonomy. Federal courts will likely decide which view prevails.

What the Law Does

The measure, Senate Bill 854, amends the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act to address what lawmakers describe as a growing youth mental-health crisis linked to social media overuse.

Key provisions include:

• Default 1-hour daily limit per platform for users under 16
• Parental consent required to increase or decrease that limit
• Age verification using “commercially reasonable methods”
• Strict limits on data use, allowing age-verification data to be used only for that purpose
• Enforcement through consumer protection laws, with potential fines up to $7,500 per violation after a 30-day cure period

The law applies to major platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, and Facebook — any service that enables profiles, feeds, messaging, or content sharing.

Notably, it does not ban social media for teens, eliminate accounts, or hand parents direct access to their children’s accounts. Instead, it establishes a default guardrail that parents can adjust.

A Bipartisan Compromise — Not a Culture War Flashpoint

Despite how it’s sometimes framed, SB 854 did not begin as a partisan crusade. It was introduced by Democratic Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg and passed unanimously by the General Assembly.

Early drafts were far more aggressive, proposing bans on addictive features like infinite scroll and applying to users under 18. Those provisions were stripped out to secure broad support and avoid immediate legal roadblocks.

Governor Youngkin later pushed to restore some of those stronger elements — raising the age threshold to 18 and targeting algorithmic features — but the House rejected the amendments. The final law reflects a narrower, compromise approach focused solely on time limits and parental consent.

Why Supporters Say the Law Is Necessary

From a center-right perspective, the argument is straightforward: parents have lost leverage, and tech companies have little incentive to give it back voluntarily.

Supporters point to mounting evidence that heavy social media use correlates with rising rates of anxiety, depression, sleep disruption, and cyberbullying among teens. The U.S. Surgeon General has warned that adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face significantly higher risks of mental-health struggles.

Critically, proponents argue that voluntary parental controls have failed. They are often hard to find, easy to bypass, or buried deep in app settings — while platforms continue to design features optimized for maximum engagement, not child wellbeing.

In that light, Virginia’s approach is framed not as “big government,” but as a market correction — restoring parental authority in an ecosystem dominated by billion-dollar companies.

Big Tech Pushes Back

Not surprisingly, the law is facing an aggressive legal challenge from NetChoice, a trade association representing companies such as Meta, Google, TikTok, and X.

In November, NetChoice sued Virginia in federal court, arguing the law violates the First Amendment by restricting access to protected speech and risks privacy violations through age verification. The group compares time limits to government-mandated caps on reading books or watching documentaries.

On December 26, a coalition of 29 state attorneys general filed a brief supporting Virginia, arguing the law strikes a reasonable balance between access and protection for minors. As of now, no injunction has been issued, meaning enforcement could begin early in 2026 unless a court intervenes.

Real Questions Still Largely Ignored

While headlines focus on free-speech arguments, several practical issues have received far less attention:

• How age verification will actually work without excessive data collection
• Overlap with federal COPPA rules for children under 13
• Impact on young content creators and streamers under 16
• Potential unintended consequences for vulnerable teens who rely on online communities

Supporters acknowledge these concerns but argue they are reasons to refine implementation — not abandon the effort altogether.

A Test Case for the Nation

Virginia’s law is unique. Rather than banning platforms or features outright, it relies on default limits with parental opt-out, a structure that could become a national model if it survives court scrutiny.

At its core, the debate is less about technology and more about values: who sets the rules for childhood — parents and communities, or algorithms designed to maximize screen time?

For many Virginia families, the answer is overdue.