Virginia SB 854 (Social Media)

BadLawVA SB 854Virginia, United StatesHigh threat
Enforcement blocked; Fourth Circuit denied renewed stay request August 2026
  1. Introduced
  2. Passed Senate
  3. Passed House
  4. Became Law

Stage 4 of 4: Became Law

Makes social media platforms screen every Virginia user's age and holds under-16s to one hour a day, now blocked by a federal court.

Latest update

Fourth Circuit denied Virginia’s renewed request to stay the preliminary injunction pending appeal

Read the full billView official bill record

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What it does

Virginia SB 854 amends the state Consumer Data Protection Act to make social media platforms run a neutral age screen that sorts users under 16 from everyone else, and to honor browser or device signals that flag a minor. Once an account reads as under 16, the platform has to hold it to one hour of use per day per app, unless a parent files verifiable consent to change the limit. Data collected for the age check may be used only for the age check.

What’s at stake

A neutral age screen still runs on every account, so the under-16 rule checks Virginia adults on the way to the teenagers. The one-hour cap puts the state's hand on the clock of how long a minor can read or post, and the parental-consent override turns family permission into a platform setting the government designed.

Our take

Virginia passed this 40-0 in the Senate and 97-0 in the House, and a federal judge blocked it anyway in February as a content-based limit on speech that fails strict scrutiny. A unanimous legislature cannot make a stopwatch on a teenager's reading constitutional.

Timeline

Fourth Circuit oral argument (scheduled)Upcoming

Fourth Circuit denied Virginia’s renewed request to stay the preliminary injunction pending appealLatest

Federal court blocked enforcement

Took effect

Sponsor

Sen. Stella Pekarsky

Votes

  • Senate — Final passage (40 to 0) · February 3, 2025
  • House — Final passage (97 to 0) · February 20, 2025

Legal challenges

NetChoice v. Jones

The February 27, 2026 preliminary injunction remains in place. On August 24, the Fourth Circuit denied Virginia’s renewed motion to stay it pending appeal; the order did not decide the appeal on its merits. Oral argument is scheduled for October 28, 2026.

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