A new addition to the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (also known as SB854) went into effect mandating that social media companies limit children under 16 to one hour a day on their platforms on January 1st of this year.
The law affects popular apps like Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, though interpretation and enforcement varies across the platforms.
On TikTok, teens are issued a 15 minute warning before their time runs out. Once time has expired, the app displays a screen asking if the user is ready to close TikTok and requires a passcode to continue. This passcode is displayed on the same screen and remains unchanged every time the message appears.
Instagram behaves differently. According to freshman Catherine Flaherty, the app notifies the user that they have been online for an hour, but the time limit seems to have no other effect. “You can literally just click a button,” she said. “There’s nothing that you have to do.”
Snapchat users freshmen Jayden Hawkins and Abu Rezai said that they hadn’t encountered any limits on that platform despite previous reporting from WUSA9 detailing harsh restrictions.
The Consumer Data Protection Act also requires social media companies to verify the ages of new users claiming to be over 16. After entering their birthdate on Instagram, for example, users can either take a video selfie, which uses artificial intelligence to predict the users age, or upload their government-issue ID.
The text of the law does not provide for any consequences for violating its terms. It is unclear what repercussions social media platforms could face for failing to comply.
Virginia joins 15 other states in passing similar legislation, with seven of the laws being either fully or partially paused by courts. Internet business trade association NetChoice is currently seeking an injunction on SB854. Last year, NetChoice successfully secured injunctions against social media age-verification laws in Arkansas, Ohio, and Louisiana.
