Snapchat, YouTube covered under Florida’s new ban on social media for young teens

Image via Lee Ann Anderson of Fresh Take Florida.

Technology companies are identifying the first popular social media platforms covered under Florida’s new law banning such services for young teens: Snapchat and YouTube. The acknowledgement came in the latest federal court filings as part of a renewed legal fight challenging whether the restrictions are constitutional.

The court records said Facebook and Instagram might also be covered because they “appear to satisfy each of the criteria” under the new law. The companies cited references to Instagram and Facebook by Republican lawmakers who identified which social media companies they were targeting with the bill during its passage last year.

The new filings, submitted late Friday in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee, relaunched the landmark legal case seeking to overturn the state law, which bans some social media accounts for teens younger than 16, or for 14- and 15-year-olds without a parent’s permission.

U.S. Judge Mark Walker weeks ago threw out an earlier version of a lawsuit by the technology industry because he said it failed to specify which social media companies might be affected under the law. He gave two trade groups leading the court fight until midnight Monday to refile a new lawsuit.

The law affects only social media companies with 10% or more of daily active users who are younger than 16 and who spend on average two hours or more on the app, and have what lawmakers describe as addictive features like push notifications or serving up new videos endlessly. If all conditions aren’t met, the platform wouldn’t be affected.

The new court filings included representatives of Snapchat and YouTube saying their platforms would or likely would be impacted by Florida’s law, which went into effect in January but hasn’t been enforced yet by the state’s Attorney General.

The senior director of Snapchat, David Boyle, said the app was covered under Florida’s new law but already has protections in place for young teens. Neither Snapchat or YouTube requires users who are 14 or 15 to obtain a parent’s permission before opening an account, the court records said.

“Minors can only view direct messages from users with whom they are already friends on the platform or already have in their phone’s contacts,” he said. “The teen will receive an in-app warning that this person is outside the teen’s network.”

Boyle said Snapchat also offers resources from mental health experts for users.

When the bill was introduced in last year’s Legislative Session, sponsors said that the mental health of minors who excessively use social media was a main concern. They said the platforms increased depression and loneliness among young teens.

Alexandra Veitch, director of public policy for the Americas at YouTube, said the company would be affected under Florida’s law because its use of algorithms curates content for users and allows users to enable push notifications.

Veitch could not gather data on whether 10% or more of daily active users who are younger than 16 and who spend on average two hours or more on the app, because demographics are constantly changing — but she said that based on historical data YouTube could be affected.

Attorneys for the trade groups that are plaintiffs in the case said parents in Florida can already employ restrictions for their children’s usage.

“In a nation that values the First Amendment, the preferred response is to let parents decide what speech and mediums their minor children may access — including by utilizing the many available tools to monitor their activities on the Internet,” the new lawsuit said.

The companies renewed their request for a preliminary injunction to temporarily block the law. It wasn’t clear when the Judge would decide whether to grant that request. The Judge said he would schedule the next steps in the case on Thursday morning.

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This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. The reporter can be reached at [email protected]. You can donate to support our students here.