Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody speaks as Gov. Ron DeSantis looks on after announcing a proposal for Digital Bill of Rights, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee).
Two internet trade groups on Monday filed a federal lawsuit that claims a Florida law passed earlier this year prohibiting children under 14 from having social media accounts violates the First Amendment.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and NetChoice are suing Ashley Moody, the Sunshine State’s attorney general. This year, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed a bill into law that bans children 13 and younger from signing up for or maintaining social media accounts. It would allow 14- and 15-year-olds to have accounts with parental consent.
But the groups in the 48-page lawsuit say that violates the First Amendment rights of the children.
“Florida House Bill 3 is the latest attempt in a long line of government efforts to restrict new forms of constitutionally protected expression based on concerns about their potential effects on minors. Books, movies, television, rock music, video games, and the Internet have all been accused in the past of posing risks to minors,” plaintiff lawyers write.
They go on to say that while government should have a say in the debates over topics such as social media, the “First Amendment does not take kindly to government effort to resolve them.”
“The Constitution instead leaves the power to decide what speech is appropriate for minors where it belongs: with their parents,” the lawsuit says.
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Google and Meta, which owns Facebook, are among the companies CCIA represents. The lawsuit seeks to block the law from going into effect on Jan. 1. Plaintiffs argue the law only targets certain websites.
“It covers only the websites that minors like to use regularly, effectively punishing those users — and their favorite websites — in a manner wholly inconsistent with the First Amendment,” a press release said.
There are already protections in place to protect minors from inappropriate content, the groups argue. Among those are parents deciding whether and when to allow their children to use devices, tools to block certain apps and websites and restrictions on internet browsers. Social media sites also have tools such as Snapchat’s “family center” which allows parents to see their kids’ friend lists and who they are messaging. Facebook and Instagram have similar options while YouTube has settings for age-appropriate videos.
Plaintiffs are also asserting their own First Amendment rights, and those of the group members, have been violated. They are suing Moody because she is tasked with enforcing the law.
DeSantis is not named in the suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
Moody’s office released the following statement:
“We are reviewing the lawsuit; however, as a mother, Attorney General Moody will fight aggressively in court to ensure the ability to protect Florida children.”
The bill received bipartisan support in the Florida Legislature, passing 30-5 in the Senate and 109-4 in the House. It came after DeSantis vetoed the original bill over privacy concerns. Supporters said social media can be addictive and used by sexual predators to prey on children.
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