Court lifts NetChoice pause on Florida law requiring age checks for social platforms

NetChoice, the legal lobby group representing Silicon Valley’s biggest companies, is unhappy about losing its challenge to a Florida law imposing age check requirements on social platforms.

In a terse statement that labels House Bill 3 “the state’s ID-for-Speech law,” NetChoice confirms that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has granted Florida’s request to lift a block on the state’s HB3 in CCIA & NetChoice v. Uthmeier.

HB3 requires platforms that employ “certain addictive features” to “prohibit those under 14 years old from creating accounts and to require parental consent for 14- and 15-year-old account holders.”

NetChoice and its co-litigant, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), contend that “HB3 violates the First Amendment by forcing Floridians to hand over their personal data just to access protected speech online. It mandates websites to collect sensitive information, enhancing the cybersecurity risk for children by making data more vulnerable to hackers and predators.”

Although the “ID-for-speech” label is new, the argument is not. NetChoice’s primary activity is litigating online safety laws that make its member companies legally responsible for ensuring their users are over the age threshold.

Further appeals, First Amendment arguments to come: NetChoice

Paul Taske, co-director of the NetChoice Litigation Center, says it “will consider all available options to ensure Floridians’ online communication is safe and free.” Which is to say: more litigation.

However, its repeated statement that HB3 and its ilk force them to collect information is specious for two reasons: one, it ignores the existence of established third party age assurance firms (some of which already provide services for the likes of Meta). Two, it’s based on the assertion that social media companies are not trying to collect users’ data, which is arguably their entire business model, and inarguably one of their main sources of revenue.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has previously taken aim at NetChoice’s efforts, saying the group has no right to speak for kids. (He has also sued porn companies for noncompliance with state age verification rules.)

However, the First Amendment is a powerful weapon for NetChoice in its legal efforts to block age verification requirements in the U.S. For better or worse, it is now considered (in the Court’s language) “one of the most important places for the exchange of views.” In America, that’s a sharper legal tool than claiming age verification will result in “huge honey pots of information that attract bad actors,” as NetChoice has done. After all, there are already massive honey pots of information that attract bad actors: we call them social media profiles.

Slate of online safety bills to get Dec 2 hearing in Washington

On the federal level, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade is preparing for a hearing to consider a slate of 19 bills related to kids’ online safety and privacy.

A release from the office of Energy & Commerce Chairman Brett Guthrie says the hearing will focus on marquee legislation like the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), as well as a host of other bills relating to safeguards for social media, addictive algorithms, the risks of LLM chatbots, data privacy and grooming, among other related issues.

“For too long, tech companies have failed to adequately protect children and teens from perils online,” says a statement from Guthrie. “One week from today, this Committee will begin advancing a suite of online safety bills to address the challenges facing our kids in the digital age. Parents and lawmakers both agree on the importance of enacting meaningful protections that can stand the test of time, so we look forward to this important first step.”

The hearing, Legislative Solutions to Protect Children and Teens Online, is set for Tuesday December 2 at 10:15 a.m.

Article Topics

age verification  |  children  |  Computer & Communications Industry Association  |  COPPA  |  Florida  |  Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA)  |  Netchoice  |  social media  |  United States