Virginia To Enforce Verification Law For Social Media On January 1, 2026, Despite Free Speech Concerns – ReclaimTheNet
Virginia To Enforce Verification Law For Social Media On January 1, 2026, Despite Free Speech Concerns
Virginia’s push to police teen screen time edges the internet closer to an era where every click comes with an ID check.
Virginia is preparing to enforce a new online regulation that will curtail how minors access social media, setting up a direct clash between state lawmakers and advocates for digital free expression.
Beginning January 1, 2026, a law known as Senate Bill 854 will compel social media companies to confirm the ages of all users through “commercially reasonable methods” and to restrict anyone under sixteen to one hour of use per platform per day.
We obtained a copy of the bill for you here.
Parents will have the option to override those limits through what the statute calls “verifiable parental consent.”
The measure is written into the state’s Consumer Data Protection Act, and it bars companies from using any information gathered for age checks for any other purpose.
Lawmakers from both parties rallied behind the bill, portraying it as a way to reduce what they described as addictive and harmful online habits among young people.
Delegate Wendell Walker argued that social media “is almost like a drug addiction,” while Delegate Sam Rasoul said that “people are concerned about the addiction of screen time” and accused companies of building algorithms that “keep us more and more addicted.”
Enforcement authority falls to the Office of the Attorney General, which may seek injunctions or impose civil fines reaching $7,500 per violation for noncompliance.
But this policy, framed as a health measure, has triggered strong constitutional objections from the technology industry and free speech advocates.
🔗SOURCE ➡️ ReclaimTheNet
Related: 12/23 — 🚨🚨BREAKING! – COURT RULES AGE VERIFICATION VIOLATES THE FIRST AMENDMENT – TEXAS!
12/16 — Substack Imposes Digital ID Checks In Australia
12/15 — Congress is quietly advancing almost two dozen bills, every one designed to further ensnare Americans in the surveillance panopticon.
12/12 — House Lawmakers Unite In Moral Panic, Advancing 18 “Kids’ Online Safety” Bills That Expand Surveillance And Weaken Privacy
11/24 — Telegram Sues Australia Over Age Verification Law
11/10 — Texas Sues Roblox Over Child Safety Failures, Joining Multi-State Push For Digital Id
10/14 — Google And Apple To Enforce Age Verification In Texas Starting In 2026
11/21/24 — Whitney Webb to Elon Musk:
Aren’t You The Guy That Wants To “Verify all humans” On Social Media By Having Them Link A Govt Issued Id To Their Social Media Account? You Say It’s To “Control bots”, Australia’s Govt Says It’s To “Protect kids”, But It’s Really The Same Policy At The End Of The Day, Isn´t It?
8/2/24 — Biden-Harris Task Force Urges Online Age Verification Digital Id Tool Development
Follow ➡️ @PsyopDaily
READ FULL ARTICLE: This article originally appeared on ReclaimTheNet
