The most recent exchange of lawsuits between tech companies and the local and state governments trying to regulate them takes aim at a Florida law attempting to limit access for 14 and 15 year olds by requiring parental permission to join the platform.

The ongoing battle between governments and social media companies is still raging. The most recent court filings on the matter include a case filed by the companies, including Meta and Google, against the state of Florida. The law in question would require 14 and 15 year olds to have parental permission to create a social media account. Children younger than 14 would not be allowed to have accounts at all, even with parental permission.

The case filed by NetChoice, a well-known and longtime representative of the collective social media companies, claim the law is susceptible to a number of challenges. From a Route-Fifty article:

The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and NetChoice want a federal court to prevent enforcement of the law (HB3), claiming it violates the First Amendment, that its definition of a social media platform is too vague, and that it contradicts federal statute.

As previously covered on Conduit Street, the Supreme Court did not offer any clarity on what types of state and local government regulations would be permissible against social media companies. The decisions were remanded back to the states. The law in question is set to go into affect in Florida on January 1st, 2025.

In Maryland, local school systems have joined class action suits against these companies, and the Maryland General Assembly has attempted to pass their own regulations to protect children from the adverse health effects of using social media platforms. The significant increase in mental health needs of younger generations has been in part attributed to social media use. This disproportionately increases the demand on public health services provided by local health departments, schools, and human service and public safety divisions.