On May 20, 2025, Nebraska Governor Pillen approved LB 383, which imposes a broad range of restrictions on minors’ access online. In addition to a ban on artificial intelligence-generated child pornography, the law also requires parental controls over minor social media accounts. Nebraska joins at least two other states that have passed bans on social media for minors without parental consent this year.
Of note, a section of LB 383 called the Parental Rights in Social Media Act (the “Act”) outlines parental rights over their children’s social media accounts. Key provisions and definitions are below. The following provisions of the Act become effective on July 1, 2026.
- “Social Media Platform”: The term is broadly defined as “a website or Internet application that allows a person to create an account and enables an account holder to communicate with other account holders and users through posts.” “Posts” is not defined, but the definition notably excludes online platforms like email services or online shopping websites and services that consist primarily of preselected content where interactive functionality is incidental to such content.
- “Minor”: A minor is defined as a Nebraska resident “who is known or reasonably believed by a social media platform to be under eighteen years of age” and is not emancipated.
- Age Verification for Minors: Minors may not be account holders on a social media platform unless there is age verification, and their parent provides express consent. The statute requires a “reasonable age verification method” which is defined as the “presentation of a digitized identification card or any commercially reasonable age verification method to confirm an individual’s age.” A social media platform may utilize third-party vendors as part of this process. Social media companies are also prohibited from retaining age verification information after that process is complete.
- Parental Controls: Social media companies must develop a method for a parent to revoke consent. Social media companies must also provide parents with methods to supervise minor accounts including: (i) viewing posts made by the minor; (ii) viewing responses or messages sent to or from the minor; (iii) controlling the minor’s privacy and account settings; and (iv) monitoring or limiting the amount of time that the minor spends on the platform.
- Enforcement: The Act allows (i) any individual whose information is retained after age verification was completed and (ii) minors or parents of minors for any violation of the Act to obtain relief from the social media company or third-party vendors, including actual damages. The Nebraska Attorney General may also enforce the Act with penalties of up to $2,500 per violation.