Georgia Enacts Law Regulating Social Media Use for Minors | Practical Law

Georgia Enacts Law Regulating Social Media Use for Minors | Practical Law

Georgia has enacted the Protecting Georgia's Children on Social Media Act of 2024, which protects social media users under 16 years of age by restricting social media access, limiting the collection and use of minors' personal data, and imposing age verification and parental consent requirements. The state's attorney general will enforce the Act.

Georgia Enacts Law Regulating Social Media Use for Minors

Practical Law Legal Update w-043-0981 (Approx. 4 pages)

Georgia Enacts Law Regulating Social Media Use for Minors

by Practical Law Data Privacy & Cybersecurity
Published on 24 Apr 2024 • Georgia
Georgia has enacted the Protecting Georgia's Children on Social Media Act of 2024, which protects social media users under 16 years of age by restricting social media access, limiting the collection and use of minors' personal data, and imposing age verification and parental consent requirements. The state's attorney general will enforce the Act.
On April 23, 2024, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed the Protecting Georgia's Children on Social Media Act of 2024 (CSMA) (SB 351), which restricts social media access by Georgia minors under 16 years of age and imposes new obligations on social media platforms. With some exceptions, the new law applies to social media platforms that allow account holders to create a profile, upload posts, view and listen to posts, form mutual connections, and interact publicly and privately with other account holders and users.
Georgia's CSMA requires covered social media platforms to:
  • Verify the age of each Georgia account holder using commercially reasonable efforts appropriate to the risks that arise from the platform's information management practices.
  • Obtain express parental consent for verified minors to open or hold an account by any of the following means:
    • parental consent forms;
    • toll-free telephone number;
    • video conferencing technology;
    • government-issued ID;
    • financial or payment card information;
    • email, with additional verification steps; or
    • any other commercially reasonable means of obtaining consent using available technology.
  • Not allow minors to open an account when another state or federal law makes them ineligible.
  • Provide a minor's parent or guardian with a list and description of the platform's available features for censoring or moderating content, including features that an account holder can disable or modify, upon request.
  • Prohibit for all minor accounts:
    • displaying advertising information based on the account holders' personal information, except age and location; and
    • collecting or using personal information from the account holder's activity beyond what is adequate, relevant, and reasonably necessary for the disclosed reason the platform collected the information.
Covered platforms may avoid the age verification requirement and the resulting parental consent requirement by applying the CSMA's restrictions for minor's accounts to all accounts.
Georgia's CSMA contains many sector-based exceptions to the social media platform definition, such as for companies that predominantly or exclusively offer:
  • Services that:
    • do not permit minors to use the platform under its terms of use; and
    • utilize commercially reasonable age assurance mechanisms.
  • Email, internet access, broadband, technical support, teleconferencing, photo-hosting, business-to-business software, or cloud services.
  • News, sports, entertainment, or other similar content that the platform provider pre-selects and is not user-generated.
  • Academic, scholarly, or genealogical research, or online services for educational entities, when the platform provider generates most of the content.
  • Peer-to-peer payments, online shopping, ecommerce, or classified advertising.
  • Licensed media streaming services or interactive gaming services.
  • Career development, networking, or employment services.
These and the other Georgia CSMA exclusions may include qualifying criteria, particularly around user interactivity. Social media platforms should carefully review an exception's requirements before relying on it.
The Georgia attorney general has exclusive enforcement authority and, subject to a 90-day ability to cure, can impose administrative fines of up to $2,500 per violation. The law does not contain a private right of action.
The CSMA takes effect on July 1, 2025.