What just happened? Ohio can enforce a law requiring children under 16 to get parental consent before using social media, a federal appeals court has ruled. The decision marks a rare win for state efforts to restrict minors' access to platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Snapchat after similar laws elsewhere were blocked on free speech grounds.

A divided 2-1 panel of the Cincinnati-based 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower-court ruling that had prevented Ohio's Social Media Parental Notification Act from taking effect.

The law requires sites that are reasonably likely to be accessed by children under 16 to verify users' ages and obtain parental approval before allowing minors to create or use accounts.

The measure was passed in 2023 and took effect in January 2024, only to be quickly blocked after a challenge from NetChoice, the tech industry group whose members include Meta, TikTok, YouTube, Snap, and X.

A federal judge later found the law unconstitutional, but the appeals court has now sent the case back with instructions that the block be lifted.

Judge Eric Clay said the law did place some burden on speech but was narrowly aimed at what Ohio identified as a compelling interest. Namely, it said the law was designed to protect children from online harms and from agreeing to platforms' terms of service without supervision.

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in in Cincinnati, Ohio

"At bottom, the Act imposes a parental consent requirement," Clay wrote. "That requirement constitutes a marginal burden that precisely targets the multi-faceted problem that Ohio has identified: Children's unsupervised assent to terms and conditions for use of platforms that take advantage of and harm them."

Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson called the decision a win for families, saying it gives parents the tools to oversee what their children see online.

Unsurprisingly, NetChoice disagrees. The group said the ruling threatens Ohio residents' privacy and constitutional rights, adding that it remains confident the law will eventually be struck down.

The decision arrives as governments around the world move to limit children's access to social media. The UK recently confirmed its under-16 social media ban, which is expected to arrive in spring 2027 and will cover major platforms including Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and X.

Australia became the first country to introduce a nationwide under-16 ban late last year, though many younger users are already finding ways around the facial age-estimation checks using VPNs or getting help from older friends.

Canada is one of several other countries also planning under-16 social media restrictions, part of an international push driven by concerns over mental health, bullying, addictive design, and children's exposure to harmful content.