Florida asks court to limit Meta use by minors

The state of Florida asked a court on Wednesday, October 7, to force Meta Platforms to make immediate changes to Facebook and Instagram to protect underage users. In a petition filed in a Pasco County court, state Attorney General James Uthmeier requested a preliminary injunction requiring the company to identify and remove all Florida users under the age of 14.

The petition also asks that Meta limit daily usage for Florida teenagers to two hours combined across its apps. In addition, the state wants Meta to disable autoplay content and infinite scrolling for teens, block their access to direct messages once they reach the daily time limit, and ban ads targeting that audience. Florida asked for these measures to take effect immediately while its lawsuit proceeds.

The lawsuit accuses Meta of designing its platforms to addict young users and misleading the public about the safety of its services. In August, Meta reached a settlement with 48 other states and Washington, D.C., agreeing to pay up to 18 billion dollars and alter features for teens. That sum represents roughly three to four months of profit and one month of revenue for the company.

Florida opted out of that multistate deal. In the filing, the state called the settlement a mere slap on the wrist that Meta would treat as a cost of doing business. The attorney general argued that the stricter requirements sought by Florida are technically feasible given the concessions Meta already made in the multistate pact. Meta had not issued a comment to Reuters.