Appeals court lets Florida enforce HB3 limits on minors' social media accounts

Right · 1On 14 October 2026 a three-judge panel of the Atlanta-based 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously vacated a lower court's preliminary injunction against Florida's H.B. 3, which lets the state enforce the law. 1 Right · 1The opinion in Computer & Comm. Indus. Ass'n v. Uthmeier was written by Judge Kevin Newsom, joined by Judges Robert Luck and Gerald Bard Tjoflat. 2 Right · 1HB3 requires platforms that use "addictive features" to bar anyone under 14 from creating an account, and to require parental consent for 14- and 15-year-olds. 2

Right · 1A platform is covered only if at least 10% of its daily active users under 16 spend an average of two hours or more a day on it, it selects content algorithmically, and it uses features such as infinite scrolling, push notifications, auto-play or livestreaming, or displays user-engagement metrics. 2 Right · 1The court held that HB3 burdens platforms' protected activity of compiling and curating others' speech, so the First Amendment applies, even accepting Florida's argument that the law regulates product design and commercial transactions. 2 Right · 2It nonetheless found the law likely constitutional because it is content-neutral and satisfies intermediate scrutiny, writing that it "applies to platforms wholly without regard to the topics discussed or the ideas or messages conveyed on them" and that "Truth Social is just as likely as Instagram to be affected." 2 1

Right · 1The court rejected the industry argument that the law targets "social" speech, saying the "social"-ness of speech is a matter of form, not substance, and that singling out websites rather than books is not plainly related to suppressing expression. 2 Right · 1On tailoring, the court said the law is age-calibrated, restricts creating accounts rather than access to platforms (a child may use a parent's account or browse without one), covers only platforms that already hold many minors for long periods, and is a "conditional ban" that a platform avoids by dropping algorithms or addictive features. 2 Right · 1The court added that this does not mean HB3 is the best policy choice, only that intermediate scrutiny gives legislatures latitude, so Florida may set the age lines where it did. 2

Right · 1NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association, whose members include Meta Platforms, TikTok and Snap, sued in 2024; a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction a few months after HB3 took effect, finding it likely unconstitutional, and the 11th Circuit had stayed that injunction while it considered Florida's appeal. 1 Right · 1In a second ruling the same day, the 11th Circuit vacated an August 2025 decision that had refused to order Snap to comply with HB3, and said Florida's April 2025 lawsuit against Snap should proceed in state rather than federal court. 1 Right · 1Paul Taske, director of the NetChoice Litigation Center, said the group is "currently evaluating all of our options"; representatives of Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier did not immediately respond to Reuters, and Snap declined to comment. 1