Florida Asks Court To Force Meta To Tighten FB, Insta Rules For Teens

 

Florida has asked a state judge to order changes to Instagram and Facebook to better protect young users, pressing ahead with a lawsuit accusing Meta Platforms of harming teenagers after most states resolved similar claims through a sweeping settlement.

 

In a filing in a Pasco County court on Wednesday, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier asked for a temporary injunction requiring Meta to identify and remove users under the age of 14 from the platforms in the state, limit teenagers to two hours a day across its apps and disable features such as autoplay and infinite scrolling for them.

 

The filing seeks to have the changes implemented immediately and remain in place while the lawsuit proceeds.

 

A Meta spokesperson said that, following the company’s settlement with nearly every other state, Florida should focus on persuading other platforms to take action.

 

“The attorney general should be using taxpayer resources to get YouTube and TikTok to empower parents and protect teens in Florida. We regret that he has chosen instead to pursue a meritless preliminary injunction years into the litigation,” the spokesperson said.

 

Florida’s lawsuit against Meta, which accuses the company of knowingly designing its platforms to be addictive for young users and misleading consumers about their safety, was one of dozens of similar lawsuits filed by states across the country.

 

In August, Meta reached settlements with 48 other states and Washington, DC, agreeing to pay up to $18 billion and make changes to the way teenagers use its platforms.

 

Meta has said it works hard to keep teenagers safe on its platforms and denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle. The total payout represents about three to four months of profit and roughly one month of revenue for the company.Uthmeier, a Republican, chose not to join the settlement and instead continued with Florida’s lawsuit.

 

Florida said in the filing that the settlement amounted to a “mere slap on the wrist” that would be viewed cynically as the cost of doing business and, in any event, would not prevent similar conduct in the future.

 

The measures sought by Uthmeier are more stringent than those Meta agreed to as part of the settlement. They would cut off teenagers’ access to messaging once their daily time limits are reached and prevent the company from showing them advertisements.

 

Uthmeier’s office argued that the changes Meta agreed to under the settlement demonstrate that the measures sought by Florida are technically and operationally possible.

 

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