Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier quickly appealed after a federal judge Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction blocking a 2024 state law aimed at keeping children off social-media platforms.
Uthmeier, who is the defendant in a lawsuit filed by two tech-industry groups, filed a notice of appealing Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Wilson’s ruling to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
As is common, the notice did not detail arguments Uthmeier will make at the Atlanta-based appeals court. Uthmeier also is battling Snap Inc., the operator of Snapchat, in a separate lawsuit about whether the social-media company has violated the law.
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The law, which was one of the biggest issues of the 2024 legislative session, seeks to prevent children under age 16 from opening social-media accounts on certain platforms — though it would allow parents to give consent for 14- and 15-year-olds to have accounts. Children under 14 could not open accounts.
The law does not directly identify which platforms would be affected by the regulations. But it includes a definition of such platforms, with criteria related to such things as algorithms, “addictive features” and livestreaming. Walker’s ruling Tuesday said, for example, it would apply to Snapchat and YouTube, which is owned by Google.
In the ruling, Walker said the law likely violates First Amendment rights, siding with arguments raised by the industry groups NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association. The groups filed the lawsuit in October.
Walker anticipated in Tuesday’s ruling that Uthmeier would appeal the preliminary injunction to the Atlanta-based appeals court. He declined to put his ruling on hold while the appeal plays out.
“Defendant has every right to appeal, and this court sees no reason to delay defendant in seeking an appeal by requiring him to move to stay,” Walker wrote.
