LINCOLN, Neb. - Nebraska minors will soon need parental permission to create social media accounts under a bill approved by state lawmakers. Senator Tanya Storer of Whitman introduced the legislation, LB383, at the request of Gov. Jim Pillen.

“There is evidence of Big Tech being a predator to our children. Our kids aren’t for sale,” Storer said during a hearing, pointing to the decline in teen mental health since the rise of social media.

Starting Jan. 1, 2026, social media companies operating in Nebraska must implement “reasonable age verification” to ensure users are at least 18 years old. Minors may still open accounts, but only with verified parental consent. Acceptable methods of age verification include digitized ID cards or third-party services—though the law prohibits those parties from storing personal identification after verification.

In addition, the law requires social media platforms to offer tools that allow parents to:

  • View all posts made by the minor;
  • Access all direct messages and responses;
  • Control the account’s privacy and settings; and
  • Monitor and limit screen time.

Violations could result in penalties of up to $2,500 per offense, with enforcement handled by the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office.

The bill passed on a 46-3 vote but could face legal scrutiny. Representatives from major tech companies testified against LB383 earlier this year, arguing that the measure may violate the First Amendment and raise privacy concerns by requiring collection of age verification data. The executive director of TechNet, a national tech advocacy group representing companies like Apple, Amazon, and Meta, also argued that implementing the law in a single state would be burdensome and noted that similar laws elsewhere have faced legal challenges.

LB383 also incorporates provisions from LB172, expanding the legal definition of child pornography to include computer- and AI-generated images, and criminalizing the knowing receipt of such material.