Virginia has taken a bold stand to protect its children from the addictive tug of Big Tech by enacting SB 854, a law that will default social media accounts for minors to one hour of use per platform each day. This is exactly the sort of common-sense policy parents have been begging for as phones and apps quietly replace playgrounds and dinner-table conversation.
Under the law the one-hour default can be adjusted only with verifiable parental consent, and platforms are required to take steps to verify ages so kids cannot simply lie about their birthday to dodge the rules. Lawmakers made clear this is about restoring parental authority and protecting young minds, not about banning all online access for teenagers.
For conservatives who have watched tech giants weaponize attention spans for profit, Virginia’s move is a welcome corrective to decades of laissez-faire negligence from both regulators and the platforms themselves. The mental health argument is not theoretical; state leaders citing rising anxiety, depression and academic decline have joined a global chorus calling for safeguards around how these apps are engineered.
Unsurprisingly, the tech lobby is fighting back. NetChoice and other industry groups filed suit in federal court in mid-November, arguing that a government-imposed time cap on online speech violates the First Amendment and creates privacy and security headaches with mandatory age checks. That predictable legal challenge is now making its way through the courts as Big Tech tries to protect its business model at the expense of children.
Make no mistake: the moral calculus here favors parents and kids over advertisers and algorithms. For years Silicon Valley built products designed to hijack attention with endless feeds and dark-pattern growth tricks, and it profited while communities paid the price in ruined sleep, plummeting focus and fragile self-worth among teens. It is not un-American to demand that corporations stop engineering addiction and to give mothers and fathers tools to raise resilient, responsible kids.
Governor Glenn Youngkin signed the measure into law after bipartisan support in the General Assembly, sending a powerful signal that protecting youth from predatory tech practices is not a partisan charity but a civic duty. Conservatives who value family, faith and civic order should cheer policies that prioritize childhood development over the appetites of corporate shareholders.
The legal fight will matter, and courts could decide whether states can push back on tech’s dominance. Still, patriots should back sensible safeguards and stand with parents over platforms, pressuring other states to follow Virginia’s lead rather than letting Washington or Silicon Valley call all the shots. If we truly believe in liberty and family, we defend the right of children to grow up free from industrialized distraction and we hold complicit corporations accountable.
