DES MOINES, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird joined an amicus brief Monday supporting a Tennessee law that requires social media companies to use age verification software. Social media companies are challenging the law.

Tennessee’s 2024 Protecting Children from Social Media Act requires users to verify that they are 18 years or older or get permission from their parent or guardian to make an account on a social media platform. For minors’ accounts, the law requires social media companies provide parents access to monitor the child’s activity and messages, as well as the ability to set time restrictions or revoke access.

NetChoice, a trade association including Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, and other social media platforms including X and Reddit, filed a suit challenging the Tennessee law in October 2024. In a news release, Paul Taske, associate director of the NetChoice Litigation Center, said the state law “violates free speech rights and jeopardizes the cybersecurity of minors and adults by creating a honeypot of sensitive information for hackers.”

A U.S. District court denied the request from NetChoice for a preliminary injunction to block the law from enforcement. The organization challenged this decision with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, submitting its opening brief in September.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, a Republican, argued in a brief submitted to the appeals court earlier in October the law does not abridge any free speech rights, but provides protection for minors online.

Bird joined a coalition of 34 states and Washington, D.C. in filing a brief, led by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, to support the law. The filing argues social media platforms are “knowingly harming children,” citing studies that have found mental health issues like anxiety, depression and eating disorders are linked with higher social media usage among adolescents.

Bird said she joined the brief in order to help protect children from harms caused by social media. NetChoice has succeeded in blocking similar age verification laws through court challenges in states including Ohio and Arkansas.

Iowa lawmakers considered a bill in 2025 to require parental consent for minors to create social media accounts, with parents allowed to revoke access at any time. While there was support in a subcommittee meeting from legislators for a measure giving parents more oversight of their children’s accounts, there were concerns about social media companies’ collection of personal data collection that would be required to implement such a measure.