Louisiana Judge Blocks Controversial Social Media Age Verification Law

A Louisiana law requiring social media platforms to verify the ages of their users has been blocked by Judge John W. deGravelles. The law, known as the Secure Online Child Interaction and Age Limitation, was passed in 2023 and mandated platforms like Meta, Reddit, Snap, YouTube, and Discord to implement age verification and parental control features.

Judge deGravelles ruled that the law's age-verification and parental-consent requirements were both over- and under-inclusive, and described its definition of 'social media platform' as nebulous. This ruling came just days before the law was set to be enforced after it technically took effect over the summer.

The decision was a victory for NetChoice, a lobbying group representing the tech industry, which argued that the law was unconstitutional and posed safety and security risks. Following the ruling, Paul Taske, co-director of NetChoice's Litigation Center, highlighted the massive privacy risks posed by the Louisiana law and similar legislation.

The Louisiana Attorney General's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.