A federal appeals court has cleared the way for Florida to enforce a state law banning children under 14 from social media platforms including Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, rejecting the tech industry’s argument that the measure violates the US Constitution’s free speech protections.
The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel on the Atlanta-based 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a lower court’s preliminary injunction that had blocked the law, known as H.B. 3. The panel found that because the law targets platform features rather than content, it does not conflict with the First Amendment.
The law specifically applies to platforms that include what it defines as addictive features, including video autoplay and infinite scroll. Under its terms, those platforms cannot allow children under 14 to create accounts.
Tech industry groups NetChoice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association, which count Meta, TikTok and Snap among their members, had filed suit in 2024 to block the legislation. Wednesday’s ruling is a direct defeat for that effort.
Florida was among the first US states to legislate on children’s social media access, part of a broader push by state governments to address concerns about the platforms’ effects on young people’s mental health. Several other states have since passed similar measures, and Wednesday’s decision may embolden further efforts as courts continue to weigh where children’s online safety law ends and free speech begins.
