District Court Dismisses Case Against Fl. Kids Social Media Bill
The U.S. District Court for Northern Florida on Monday dismissed a case against Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) over a bill prohibiting kids 13 and younger from creating social media accounts and requiring parental consent for 14- and 15-year-olds to create accounts. The Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and NetChoice, plaintiffs in the case, failed to allege standing, the court said.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
“Plaintiffs do not allege sufficient facts to allow this Court to draw a reasonable inference that at least one of their members faces an injury in fact from the challenged law,” said Judge Mark Walker. “Because this law does not regulate “social media” platforms generally, but instead limits its coverage to those platforms that meet each of four specific criteria, this Court cannot reasonably infer that any particular platform is likely covered by the law without some factual allegations regarding each of those criteria. Plaintiffs plead none.”
The lawsuit in case 24-00438 was filed in October 2024, alleging that HB-3 violates the First Amendment, conflicts with the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and is unconstitutionally vague. Former Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) asked the court Jan. 13 to dismiss the case and opposed CCIA’s motion for a preliminary injunction (see 2501140043), which CCIA opposed on Feb. 14 (see 2502180042). CCIA motioned for a preliminary injunction against the law, which the court denied Thursday for failing to show likelihood of standing (see 2503140057).
The plaintiffs are allowed to file an amended complaint on or before March 31, said Walker.
In a press release following the decision, NetChoice said it was "disappointed in this ruling from the court, and we will consider all available legal options to ensure Florida’s unconstitutional, harmful ID for the internet is ultimately halted.” Paul Taske, NetChoice associate director of litigation, said, “Blocking access to free, lawful speech will not make a single Floridian safer online. Instead, it will put their security online at serious risk of breach -- especially for minors."