Georgia
Georgia Age Verification Law: One Bill, Two Very Different Statutes
Independently fact-checked against primary sources (last audited August 13, 2026). · 2 primary sources cited on this page. How we verify our legal content
Georgia's "age verification law" is really two separate legal requirements created by the same 2024 bill, Senate Bill 351. One, covering adult websites, has been in effect since July 1, 2025, and no court has blocked it. The other, covering social media account creation by minors, was blocked by a federal judge five days before it was set to take effect and remains enjoined while an appeal is pending.
Information last verified on 2026-08-13. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.
One Bill, Two Chapters: Why Georgia's Law Isn't One Thing
Senate Bill 351, signed April 23, 2024, is formally titled the "Protecting Georgia's Children on Social Media Act of 2024," but it does more than its short title suggests. The bill amended Title 39 of the Georgia Code, the title governing minors, and split its requirements across two chapters that ended up with opposite fates in court. Chapter 5 became the state's adult-content age-verification requirement, O.C.G.A. section 39-5-5. Chapter 6 became its social-media age-verification and parental-consent requirement, O.C.G.A. sections 39-6-1 through 39-6-5. Both were part of one piece of legislation. Only one of them survived its first year unchallenged.
| Adult-content (Ch. 5) | Social media (Ch. 6) | |
|---|---|---|
| Citation | O.C.G.A. § 39-5-5 | O.C.G.A. §§ 39-6-1 to -5 |
| Effective date | July 1, 2025 | Never took effect (enjoined June 26, 2025) |
| What it covers | Sites where more than 33.33% of content is material harmful to minors | Social media account creation and parental consent for users under 16 |
| Verification method | Digitized ID, government-issued ID, or any commercially reasonable method meeting NIST Identity Assurance Level 2 | Age verification plus parental consent for under-16 accounts |
| Penalty | Up to $10,000 per violation, amount set by the superior court where an affected minor resides, proceedings instituted within one year of the violation | Up to $2,500 per violation as enacted, after 90 days' written notice and a chance to cure |
| Who enforces | Attorney General, solicitor general, or district attorney having jurisdiction; private damages actions preserved | Attorney General exclusively; no private right of action |
| Litigation status | Unchallenged | Preliminarily enjoined, 11th Cir. appeal argued Mar. 10, 2026, no ruling |
The Adult-Content Requirement: In Effect and Unchallenged
O.C.G.A. section 39-5-5 requires a commercial entity to use reasonable age verification before allowing access to a public website where a "substantial portion," more than 33.33 percent, of the content is material harmful to minors. Acceptable verification methods include a digitized ID card, including a digital copy of a driver's license, another government-issued ID, or any commercially reasonable method that meets or exceeds the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Identity Assurance Level 2 standard, which is the catch-all most commercial verification vendors operate under. The statute bars a verifying entity from retaining a user's identifying information after access is granted, and a user whose information is knowingly retained anyway can sue for resulting damages. Bona fide news organizations and internet, search, and cloud service providers are excluded from coverage.
Enforcement under Chapter 5 works differently from the social-media chapter, and the difference is easy to get backwards. Section 39-5-5(c)(3) sets a fine of up to $10,000 for each violation, an amount determined by the superior court in the county where any affected minor resides, and it lets the Attorney General, the solicitor general, or the district attorney having jurisdiction institute proceedings to impose that fine, within one year of the violation. Chapter 5 contains no notice-and-cure period. The 90 days' notice to cure that is often attributed to Georgia's adult-site rule appears only in the social-media chapter, at O.C.G.A. section 39-6-4(d). A fine is also not the operator's only exposure: section 39-5-5(c)(2) makes a non-complying entity liable to an individual for damages resulting from a minor accessing the material, including court costs and attorneys' fees, and the statute says a fine does not preclude any right of action.
The requirement took effect July 1, 2025. Major adult platforms, including Pornhub's parent company Aylo, chose to go dark in Georgia that same day rather than build a compliant verification flow, according to contemporaneous reporting. NetChoice, the trade association that sued over SB 351's social-media provisions (see below), has said publicly that it is not challenging this section. No lawsuit against O.C.G.A. section 39-5-5 has surfaced in this research.
The Social-Media Requirement: Preliminarily Enjoined
O.C.G.A. sections 39-6-1 through 39-6-5 would require social media platforms to verify users' ages and, for account holders under 16, obtain express parental or guardian consent before allowing an account to be created. Consent could be given through written consent, a toll-free call, a videoconference, or a verified digital form, and the statute limits data collection and targeted advertising directed at minors under 16. As enacted, violations carried penalties of up to $2,500, a fraction of the $10,000 cap under the adult-content section, and section 39-6-4 gives the Attorney General exclusive authority to enforce the chapter, bars any private right of action, and requires 90 days' written notice and an opportunity to cure before an enforcement action begins.
None of that has actually taken effect. NetChoice, LLC sued Georgia's attorney general in NetChoice v. Carr in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, and U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg granted a preliminary injunction on June 26, 2025, five days before the law's own July 1, 2025 effective date. Judge Totenberg held the social-media provisions were likely unconstitutional, reasoning in part that they drew a content-based distinction between user-generated and provider-generated platforms. Georgia, through Attorney General Chris Carr, immediately appealed to the 11th Circuit (No. 25-12436). Oral argument was held March 10, 2026, in Jacksonville. No ruling had been issued as of this writing; the appeal remains pending on the merits, and this status should be rechecked before treating either outcome as settled.
Pornhub's August 2026 Letter: Advocacy, Not Litigation
In early August 2026, Pornhub sent a letter to more than 300 state officials nationwide, including Georgia's governor and attorney general, asking them to seek the rescission of age-verification laws generally. That is a lobbying request directed at elected officials, not a court filing, and it should not be described as litigation. As of this writing, no bill to repeal O.C.G.A. section 39-5-5 has been introduced or passed in the Georgia General Assembly.
What This Means If You Live in Georgia or Run a Website There
If you operate a commercial site where more than a third of the content is material harmful to minors and you have Georgia visitors, the age-verification requirement under O.C.G.A. section 39-5-5 has applied since July 2025 and has not been successfully challenged. Two Chapter 5 details matter for planning: there is no statutory grace period to fix a violation before an enforcement action, and a proceeding to impose the fine must be instituted within one year of the violation, so exposure for any single lapse is time limited but immediate. If you operate a social media platform, the account-verification and parental-consent requirements under O.C.G.A. sections 39-6-1 through 39-6-5 remain blocked by a federal injunction while Georgia's appeal is pending, meaning they are not currently enforceable, though that could change if the 11th Circuit reverses. For Georgia's broader personal-data rules, see Georgia data privacy laws.
Disclaimer
This article provides general information about Georgia's age-verification statutes. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. The social-media provisions' litigation status can change quickly; verify current status with the Georgia Attorney General's office, the 11th Circuit's docket, or a licensed Georgia attorney before relying on anything here for a specific situation.
Related Articles
- Age Verification Laws by State
- Florida Age Verification Law
- Virginia Age Verification Law
- Georgia Data Privacy Laws
Last updated: 2026-08-13.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Georgia have an age-verification law for social media?
Georgia enacted one, O.C.G.A. sections 39-6-1 through 39-6-5, but a federal judge preliminarily enjoined it on June 26, 2025, five days before its effective date. Georgia's appeal was argued before the 11th Circuit on March 10, 2026, with no ruling as of this writing, so the requirement is not currently enforceable.
Does Georgia require age verification for adult websites?
Yes. O.C.G.A. section 39-5-5 has required commercial sites where more than a third of the content is material harmful to minors to verify visitors are 18 or older since July 1, 2025. It has not been challenged in court.
Why do people say Georgia's age-verification law was struck down?
That description usually refers to the social-media provisions in O.C.G.A. sections 39-6-1 through 39-6-5, which were enjoined in 2025 and remain on appeal. It does not describe the separate adult-content requirement in section 39-5-5, which was never challenged and remains in effect.
Can Georgia enforce its social-media age-verification law while the appeal is pending?
No. The preliminary injunction remains in place unless and until the 11th Circuit reverses it, so the social-media provisions are not currently being enforced.
Is Pornhub blocked in Georgia?
Reporting indicates Pornhub's parent company, Aylo, chose to stop serving Georgia visitors on the adult-content law's July 1, 2025 effective date rather than build a compliant verification system. That was the platform's choice, not a state ban on adult content.
Has Georgia's adult-content age-verification law been challenged in court?
No lawsuit against O.C.G.A. section 39-5-5 has been found in this research, and NetChoice has publicly said it is not challenging that section.
Updates
Corrected the enforcement details for Georgia's adult-site age-verification statute: O.C.G.A. section 39-5-5 has no 90-day notice-and-cure period (that belongs to the separate social-media chapter), fines are set by the superior court where an affected minor resides and must be pursued within one year, prosecutors other than the Attorney General may enforce, private damages actions remain available, and the NIST Identity Assurance Level 2 verification option was added.
Independently fact-checked against the cited primary sources
Sources and References
- Georgia General Assembly, SB 351 (2023-2024 Regular Session), "Protecting Georgia's Children on Social Media Act of 2024"(legis.ga.gov).gov
- Georgia Attorney General, press release on NetChoice v. Carr appeal posture(law.georgia.gov).gov
- Axios Atlanta, "Adult sites go dark in Georgia on age-verification law's effective date" (Jul. 1, 2025)(axios.com)
- Axios Atlanta, "Pornhub seeks to overturn Georgia age-verification law" (Aug. 5, 2026)(axios.com)
- Courthouse News Service, "11th Circuit balks at Georgia's social media crackdown for kids"(courthousenews.com)
- The Current GA, "Federal judge halts Georgia law restricting youth access to social media" (Jun. 27, 2025)(thecurrentga.org)
- Georgia General Assembly, Senate Bill 351 (2024, Act 463), enrolled text as signed, Sections 3-1 and 3-2 (O.C.G.A. 39-6-4 and 39-5-5)(gov.georgia.gov)