Tenn. AG: Fla. Social Media Ruling Doesn't Apply in Other Age-Verification Cases
The Tennessee attorney general on Monday pushed back against NetChoice's recent claim that a district court decision blocking enforcement of a Florida social media law requiring age verification (see 2506030057) should serve as a reason to do the same thing against similar measures in Tennessee (see 2506040049).
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
The U.S. District Court for Northern Florida found that the Florida law was likely unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds in CCIA and NetChoice v. Uthmeier (see 2506040047).
"Uthmeier got one thing right," Tennessee AG Jonathan Skrmetti (R) said. "It correctly held that the law was content neutral. In fact, it rejected the precise argument that NetChoice makes here."
But, "while Uthmeier correctly declined to apply strict scrutiny to Florida’s law, it otherwise erred in its analysis," he continued. Since NetChoice cannot justify the extraordinary remedy of emergency relief, the preliminary injunction should be denied, Skrmetti said.
Tennessee case 24-01191 began in October when NetChoice sued the state over HB-1891, which would require social media companies to verify the age of account holders and gain parental consent from users younger than 18 to open accounts. NetChoice said HB-1891 violates the First Amendment and other privacy measures (see 2501170070).