CCIA, NetChoice Renew Call for Preliminary Injunction Against Fla. Social Media Law
The Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) co-filed a reply brief with NetChoice Monday, doubling down on their motion for a preliminary injunction against a Florida law that prohibits kids 13 and younger from creating social media accounts and requires parental consent for 14- and 15-year-olds to create them. The associations allege the 2024 law violates the First Amendment and puts cybersecurity and privacy risks on state residents.
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“Florida has no credible defense for this statute that would completely bar young people -- even if their parents approve -- from accessing websites they use to learn, search, and engage with lawful content,” said Stephanie Joyce, director of CCIA’s litigation center in an emailed statement. “Once the state’s flimsy roadblocks to our lawsuit are stripped away, its justifications for such onerous restrictions of online speech are plainly outshone by the penetrating light of the First Amendment.”
The brief alleges Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) has attempted to delay the case by doing “everything" in his power "to try to keep the Court from" ruling on the First Amendment claim.
One of the things the state raised is that the law's intended targets must prove -- not simply allege -- they are likely covered under the measure. CCIA and NetChoice said they did this in the brief when they supplied evidence that social media platform Snap, among others, is likely covered by the law.
“Instead of agreeing to continue the stay of enforcement to give the Court time to decide the merits, the state then brazenly used that same evidence to sue Snap in state court mere hours before responding to Plaintiffs’ motion,” the associations said, referencing Uthmeier’s April 22 announcement of the suit alleging Snap violated the social media law (see 2504240066). “The state’s new lawsuit lays to rest any doubt that Plaintiffs have standing, and indeed have had standing all along.”
CCIA and NetChoice originally filed their suit in case 24-00438 in October 2024 against former Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (R), who asked the court to deny the preliminary injunction and dismiss the case in January (see 2501140043).
The U.S. District Court for Northern Florida dismissed the case March 17 for failure to allege standing. CCIA filed an amended complaint on March 31 (see 2503310040).