Tech giants sued Florida on Monday, attempting to overturn a state law requiring social media applications to restrict children’s access.
Trade associations for companies including Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram; Alphabet, which includes Google and YouTube; and Snapchat are asking a federal judge to strike down Florida’s law that prohibits children younger than 14 from starting accounts and demands parental approval for 15- and 16-year-olds, our Andrew Atterbury reports. The groups contend that the law, a top priority for outgoing Republican state House Speaker Paul Renner, violates free speech that “puts the state in charge of parenting.”
Why it matters: Parents, schools and dozens of state attorneys general have sued the social media companies over mental and physical harms that children have suffered as a result of bullying, illegal drug sales and content recommendations that stoke negative social comparison and eating disorders. Five states
have already passed laws setting rules to protect kids. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has issued an advisory on the mental health risks of social media for youth and called for tobacco-style warnings on platforms, a call echoed in September by a bipartisan group of 39 state attorneys general.
Florida policymakers say the law, passed earlier this year and effective in January, aims to curb serious issues plaguing children, like bullying, depression, social pressure and suicide. The backstory: The Computer & Communications Industry Association and NetChoice, two trade groups that represent the country’s largest tech companies, filed the lawsuit
in a Tallahassee federal court against Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, a Republican whose agency is tasked with carrying out the social media policies. The groups contend that Florida cuts off children from “access to valuable sources for speaking and listening, learning about current events.” “Parents already have a wealth of tools at their disposal to limit what online services their minor children use, what they can do on those services, and how often they can use them,” the lawsuit says.
Moody’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.
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