JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri has joined a multistate legal effort urging a federal appeals court to let Nebraska enforce a law requiring age verification for new social media accounts and parental consent before minors can create profiles.
Attorney General Catherine Hanaway announced the state’s participation in an amicus brief filed in NetChoice v. Hilgers.
The brief, led by Florida, asks the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit to reverse a lower-court order blocking Nebraska’s Parental Rights in Social Media Act.
Hanaway
The brief argues that the law’s requirements govern agreements between social media platforms and users over account creation, rather than speech.
On that basis, the states contend that the safeguards fall within state authority.
“Parents have the right to know what platforms are doing with their children and to have a voice in whether their child opens a social media account,” Hanaway said in a provided statement. “Our office has challenged Big Tech, and states must have the power to stand up to these companies to protect kids. Missouri will continue ensuring that parents, not tech companies, decide what is best for their children.”
The multistate filing also argues that the district court’s decision conflicts with long-standing legal principles recognizing states’ authority to protect children’s welfare and reinforce parents’ fundamental role in their upbringing.
Missouri’s participation is part of Hanaway’s broader effort to hold social media companies accountable and challenge practices that the attorney general’s office says undermine parental oversight.
The office has called for stronger transparency requirements and better safeguards for minors in actions involving technology companies.
Recent efforts cited by the office include securing what it describes as the largest Big Tech settlement in history against Meta, launching an investigation into TikTok, filing a lawsuit against Temu, and demanding that Xbox institute stronger protections for minors against predators.
The brief centers on Nebraska’s requirements for new social media accounts: platforms would have to verify a user’s age, and a minor would need parental consent before creating a profile.
The states argue that these measures protect children while preserving state authority to address the terms under which minors can open accounts.
Missouri’s filing supports Nebraska as the case proceeds before the Eighth Circuit.
The states are asking the appeals court to reverse the lower-court order that prevented enforcement of the law.