Carr Continues Fight to Keep Kids Safe Online

ATLANTA, GA - Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr is continuing his fight to keep kids safe online - arguing in federal court in defense of SB 351, Georgia's law that requires parental consent before social media platforms can enter into account agreements with kids aged 15 and younger. The hearing took place on Tuesday, March 10, in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Jacksonville, Florida.

"For far too long, families were kept in the dark about the potential harms of social media - leading to increased rates of anxiety, depression, suicide, and sexual exploitation among children and teens," said Carr. "In Georgia, we took action to empower parents by providing them with the tools they need to protect their children online. Keeping kids safe will always be our top priority, and we will continue fighting to ensure this commonsense law is enforced."

In 2024, the General Assembly passed a law requiring covered social media platforms to verify users' ages and, if under the age of 16, to secure parental consent before providing the child with an account. NetChoice, the social media industry's trade association, filed a lawsuit one year later - arguing that this portion of the law is unconstitutional and moving to block its enforcement. The District Court issued a preliminary injunction on June 26, 2025, and Carr filed a notice of appeal immediately thereafter - asking the Eleventh Circuit to allow the full law to take effect to help parents protect the health and wellbeing of their children.

As stated in Carr's brief, "Social media companies know about all those problems. But not only have they persisted in trying to keep kids addicted, they've actively tried to hide from the public the dangers and negative effects. One whistleblower, for example, testified to Congress that Meta had concealed internal research showing the addictive and harmful effect of platforms on children, and leaked documents also showed Facebook's awareness of the prevalence of human traffickers."

Find a copy of Carr's opening brief here and his reply brief here .