So, here's a thing that's not happening in Virginia, at least for now: telling teenagers they can only scroll through Instagram or watch YouTube for one hour a day. A federal judge just hit the brakes on that plan.
On Friday, a judge in Virginia issued a preliminary injunction, temporarily blocking the state's new law that would have capped daily social media use for anyone under 16 at 60 minutes. The only way around it? A parent had to log in and approve more time. The law, set to take effect in 2025, also required platforms to use "commercially reasonable" methods to verify users' ages and slapped on fines of up to $7,500 per violation.
It's an early courtroom win for the tech industry, which argued through its trade group, NetChoice, that Virginia was essentially putting a government-mandated timer on free speech.
And the judge seemed to agree. In her opinion, she wrote that the state "does not have the legal authority to block minors' access to constitutionally protected speech" without a parent stepping in to override that default setting. She called the law "over-inclusive," pointing out a quirky but real consequence: it could stop a teenager from watching a church service on YouTube if it ran over an hour, but the same kid could watch longer religious programming on a different streaming service. The law, in her view, was a blunt instrument trying to solve a complex problem, and it likely ran afoul of the First Amendment in the process.
The lawsuit was filed by NetChoice, whose membership reads like a who's who of social media: Meta, YouTube (owned by Alphabet), Snap, Reddit, and TikTok. Their argument was straightforward: Virginia was restricting access to a vital modern forum for "speaking and listening," limiting how young people can engage with information and each other online.
This isn't just a Virginia story, though. The case was being watched closely because it's part of a much bigger fight. More than two dozen other states have thrown their support behind similar efforts to rein in teen social media use. And it's not just a U.S. debate; countries like France, Spain, and Australia have all considered or implemented their own restrictions for users under 16.
For now, the ruling is temporary. It's a preliminary injunction, which means the judge thinks the tech companies are likely to win their case when it's fully argued. Further legal challenges are almost certainly on the way. But for the moment, in Virginia, the clock isn't ticking.
