(The Center Square) – After a federal court struck down Arkansas’ age verification law for social media platforms on Monday, Louisiana’s statute is likely in jeopardy after the same internet free speech group filed a similar complaint.
NetChoice, an association founded in 2001 with members that include YouTube, Google, Reddit and others, filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana on March 18. The parties are supposed to have a status conference on Wednesday.
A similar law was partially blocked by a federal court in California in January.
The similar Arkansas law was overturned by U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, in a one-page decision in NetChoice v. Griffin.
Like Louisiana’s law, the Natural State’s legislation required age verification and parental permission to have a social media account, but it was more sweeping as it was applied to all users under age 18.
“Act 689, if implemented, would violate the First Amendment rights of Arkansans because it is a facially content based restriction on speech that is not narrowly tailored to serve a compelling government interest,” Brooks said in his decision. “It would also violate the due process rights of Plaintiffs’ members because it is unconstitutionally vague in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.”
In his decision, Brooks admits that while Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat require users to be at least age 13, “account holders are asked only to self-report their ages.”
He also said that the Arkansas law “is not narrowly tailored to address the harms that the state has a compelling interest in preventing.”
“The court confirms what we have been arguing from the start: laws restricting access to protected speech violate the First Amendment,” said Chris Marchese, director of the NetChoice Litigation Center, in a news release. “And while we are grateful that this law has been permanently struck down and free speech online preserved, we remain open to working with Arkansas policymakers to advance legislation that protects minors without violating the Constitution.”
Like in Arkansas, NetChoice is seeking the overturn of Louisiana’s Senate Bill 162 passed in 2023 and in effect since July 1.
According to the legislation, age verification is required for social media sites and bans those younger than 16 from having an account without parental permission.
It also requires social media platforms to make “commercially reasonable efforts” to verify the age of users, which the complaint says is an abrogation of the First Amendment.
