Ohio Parental Notification Act
What it does
Platforms must get a parent's verifiable consent before anyone under 16 in Ohio can create an account, which in practice means age-checking signups. A federal judge permanently blocked it in April 2025 as unconstitutional. On June 18, 2026 a divided Sixth Circuit panel reversed, holding that NetChoice lacks standing to assert minors' First Amendment rights, and ordered judgment for the state. The law is now in effect.
Why it matters
This is the first major appellate ruling to throw out a NetChoice win on standing rather than the merits. NetChoice's trade-association lawsuits have been the main thing stopping age laws nationwide. If other circuits adopt the Sixth Circuit's reasoning, that shield stops working, and every blocked age law in the country gets a second life.
Our take
A law one court called unconstitutional is enforceable anyway, because an appeals panel decided nobody in the courtroom was entitled to complain. The dissent spelled out what that means: the speech interests lose without ever being weighed. State AGs with enjoined age laws are reading this opinion.
Timeline
- July 4, 2023Enacted in Ohio's budget bill (HB 33)
- April 16, 2025District court permanently enjoined the law as unconstitutional
- June 18, 2026Sixth Circuit reversed on standing and revived the law
- July 16, 2026NetChoice petitioned the full Sixth Circuit for rehearing
Legal challenges
Sixth Circuit revived the law on standing grounds, June 2026; NetChoice petitioned for en banc rehearing July 16
Our coverage: all age-verification stories