Report from Politico
In Brief – Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier (R), who has staked out a reputation as an aggressive conservative critic of digital platforms, has sued TikTok alleging that the platform deceived parents, exposed minors to harmful content, and violated the state’s 2024 law restricting social media access for teens under age 16. The state contends that TikTok’s design encourages excessive use and contributes to teen exposure to pornography, self-harm material, and other harmful content. TikTok rejected the allegations, saying it has strong safety and privacy protections for teens and has worked with state officials to comply with Florida law, including suspending accounts belonging to users under 14.
Context – Last June, the Supreme Court ruled that states requiring online porn websites to use age verification tools to confirm users are adults does not violate the First Amendment, with six justices saying that ID checks for porn were a long-established tool that warranted “intermediate scrutiny” when proposed for online use. Meanwhile, states have been passing laws regulating how social media platforms serve teens. Initially, most were blocked by federal judges applying “strict” First Amendment reviews. However, soon after the High Court’s decision on porn age checks, a federal appeals court panel in 5th Circuit allowed Mississippi’s teen-focused social media law to stand during litigation. The Supreme Court rejected an emergency appeal of that 5th Circuit ruling, although Justice Kavanaugh issued a concurring opinion in which he summarized why all the similar social media laws had been blocked and why he suspected Mississippi’s eventually would be as well. Nevertheless, appeals panels of the 11th Circuit and 9th Circuit have since followed suit allowing laws to stand, including one regarding Florida’s law. The issue will likely eventually reach the Supreme Court. The justices have been squirrely on internet cases, generally avoiding policy decisiveness, so who knows how this all plays out. In many countries, governments are moving to implement blanket social age limits and age-based regulations.