CCIA, NetChoice Seek Block of Fla. Social Media Ban on First Amendment Grounds
The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and NetChoice asked an appeals court to affirm a ruling to preliminarily block a Florida law that would ban kids from social media since it likely violates the First Amendment.
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The organizations filed a brief to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Friday about HB-3, which would prohibit kids 13 and younger from creating social media accounts, require parental consent for 14- and 15-year-olds to create them and use age-verification to implement these restrictions.
In June, U.S. District Court for Northern Florida Judge Mark Walker blocked HB-3 on First Amendment grounds (see 2506030057). Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) appealed the decision to the 11th Circuit immediately (see 2506040047).
"Just as the government may not ban minors' access to libraries, movies, or video games, it may not restrict their access to websites that for many are valuable sources for knowing current events, speaking, listening and 'otherwise exploring the vast realms of human thought and knowledge,'" the associations' brief said.
In addition, requiring "all users to verify their age before accessing covered websites, HB3 burdens the rights of adults to access those websites too," the brief added.
Case 4:24-cv-00438 was filed in October 2024, but was dismissed for failure to allege standing on March 17 (see 2503170061). An amended complaint was filed by the trade associations later that month (see 2503310040).
Uthmeier has argued that restricting kids' access to social media isn't a First Amendment violation (see 2504220010) and that federal law doesn't preempt HB-3 or violate the Fourteenth Amendment (see 2508220020).
In a release Friday, CCIA Litigation Center director Stephanie Joyce said, “The District Court recognized correctly that Florida’s internet rationing law is at odds with young peoples’ protected First Amendment rights to access and engage with information online." As such, the court should affirm the injunction, she added.