Nebraska Parental Rights in Social Media Act (LB 383)
What it does
Signed in May 2025 and set to start July 1, 2026, LB 383 required social media platforms to verify every new account holder's age through a third-party vendor and to get express parental consent before a minor could open an account. On June 27, days before the start date, a federal judge blocked both requirements as likely First Amendment violations. What he left standing is the dashboard mandate: platforms must give parents access to all of a minor's posts, interactions, and private messages.
Why it matters
The blocked half is the familiar story. The surviving half is not: a court just let stand a legal mandate that platforms build surveillance dashboards over minors' private messages. A Nebraska teen's private messages now come with a state-required second reader. That precedent travels even if the age checks stay dead.
Our take
The headline says Nebraska lost, and for the ID checks it did. But look at what is now law: platforms must wire every minor's private conversations into a monitoring panel. Protecting kids by ending their private communication is the same trade digital ID laws offer, and this version survived court. Watch which states copy the dashboard instead of the age gate.
Votes
- Legislature — Final reading (46 to 3) · May 14, 2025
Timeline
- May 20, 2025Signed by Governor Pillen
- June 27, 2026Age-verification and parental-consent provisions enjoined; dashboard mandate left in force
- July 1, 2026Surviving provisions took effect
Legal challenges
Age-verification and consent provisions preliminarily enjoined, June 2026; dashboard mandate not enjoined
Related bills
Our coverage: all age-verification stories