Florida Sues Snapchat, Alleging Social Media Platform Is Not Blocking Minors | FlaglerLive

Florida’s preferred chat box. Photo by inni w on Unsplash Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has filed a lawsuit alleging that the operator of Snapchat is violating a high-profile 2024 law aimed at keeping children off some social-media platforms. The lawsuit, filed Monday in Santa Rosa County circuit court, came after a federal judge last month rejected a request by tech-industry groups for an injunction to block the law. In a federal-court filing Monday, attorneys for the state said Uthmeier “expects that additional investigations and enforcement actions will commence soon.” The law (HB 3) seeks to prevent children under age 16 from opening social-media accounts on platforms that meet certain criteria — though it would allow parents to give consent for 14- and 15-year-olds to have accounts. Children under 14 could not open accounts. Supporters of the law have said it targets addictive features of social-media platforms — a key argument in the lawsuit that Uthmeier filed Monday against Snap Inc., which operates Snapchat. “Despite being subject to HB 3, Snap contracts with and provides accounts to Florida users who it knows are younger than 14,” the lawsuit said. “It also fails to seek parental consent before contracting with and
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