Federal Court Blocks Social Media Provisions in Florida AV Law

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—A portion of a Florida state law requiring age verification to access most social media networks was temporarily blocked Tuesday by a federal district judge who called the measure that is currently being enforced "likely facially unconstitutional."

The law in question is House Bill (HB) 3. As AVN previously covered, HB 3 is Florida's expansive age verification law that covers both social media platforms and adult sites.

Chief U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker for the Northern District of Florida temporarily enjoined Section 1 of House Bill 3, which covers social media websites specifically. Section 2 of the act deals specifically with adult platforms, and currently remains in effect. 

Two tech trade groups, NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), sued Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier in a bid to block HB 3's provisions specific to preventing teenagers aged 14 and 15 years from accessing mainstream social media networks like Facebook, Snapchat and TikTok.

The case is called CCIA & NetChoice v. Uthmeier. Meta Platforms (Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp), Alphabet (Google and YouTube), Reddit and X are members of NetChoice. Meta, Alphabet and other tech companies are members of CCIA. Both trade associations have members that are shared, including Amazon and Waymo.

Chris Marchese, NetChoice's director of litigation, called Judge Walker's decision "yet another affirmation that the government cannot control or censor online speech." Similarly, CCIA president and chief executive officer Matt Schruers said the "ruling vindicates our argument that Florida’s statute violates the First Amendment."

"[B]ecause the challenged law is likely facially unconstitutional and Plaintiffs have carried their burden on the remaining requirements for preliminary relief, statewide relief is appropriate," Walker's ruling reads. He notes that any further legal action in this case and others like it should be held until the U.S. Supreme Court finally publishes a ruling in Free Speech Coalition et al. v. Paxton. As AVN has reported extensively, the high court case was brought by the adult industry trade group the Free Speech Coalition and the parent companies of the world's largest adult platforms against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a bid to block that state's pornography-specific age verification law.
 
It is also worth noting that the Free Speech Coalition and co-litigants filed litigation against House Bill 3 in 2024. Earlier this year, Judge Walker additionally granted a motion filed by former Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody to pause the lawsuit. That case is Free Speech Coalition et al. v. Moody. FSC sued the state of Florida in December 2024 alongside the parent company of JustFor.fans, Adam & Eve and others. Walker stayed the FSC case on similar grounds as the CCIA and NetChoice case.
 
Uthmeier and his office can appeal their case to the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Any indication of this is not currently known.