Florida Braces For Lawsuits Over Law Banning Kids From Social Media

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: On Monday, Florida became the first state to ban kids under 14 from social media without parental permission. It appears likely that the law -- considered one of the most restrictive in the US -- will face significant legal challenges, however, before taking effect on January 1. Under HB 3, apps like Instagram, Snapchat, or TikTok would need to verify the ages of users, then delete any accounts for users under 14 when parental consent is not granted. Companies that 'knowingly or recklessly' fail to block underage users risk fines of up to $10,000 in damages to anyone suing on behalf of child users. They could also be liable for up to $50,000 per violation in civil penalties.

DeSantis' statement noted that 'in addition to protecting children from the dangers of social media, HB 3 requires pornographic or sexually explicit websites to use age verification to prevent minors from accessing sites that are inappropriate for children.' This suggests that Florida could face a legal challenge from adult sites like Pornhub, which have been suing to block states from requiring an ID to access adult content. Most recently, Pornhub blocked access to its platform in Texas, arguing that such laws 'impinge on the rights of adults to access protected speech' and fail 'strict scrutiny by employing the least effective and yet also most restrictive means of accomplishing Texas's stated purpose of allegedly protecting minors.'

According to the Guardian, [Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, who spearheaded the law] expected that social media companies would 'sue the second after' HB 3 was signed. So far, no legal challenges have been raised, but Renner seemingly expects that the law's focus on 'addictive features such as notification alerts and autoplay videos, rather than on their content' would ensure that the law defeats any constitutional concerns potentially raised by social media companies. 'We're going to beat them, and we're never, ever going to stop,' Renner vowed.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.