Florida Attorney General Seeks Ban on Meta Apps for Children

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier requested a temporary injunction from a Pasco County judge to impose strict restrictions on Meta Platforms' services for young users. The proposed order would ban Florida residents under age 14 from using Facebook and Instagram and cap teenage usage at two hours per day across all Meta applications.

Uthmeier is seeking to disable addictive features such as infinite scrolling and autoplay, prohibit targeted advertisements to teenagers, and terminate direct messaging once daily time limits are reached. He also requested that the court compel Meta to implement stricter age verification measures.

Florida filed this request after rejecting an $18 billion settlement accepted by Washington, D.C., and 48 other states in August. Uthmeier characterized that agreement as a "low-ball settlement" and a "mere slap on the wrist," arguing that Meta would view such a payment as a cost of doing business. The state's lawsuit alleges that Meta knowingly designed features to encourage addictive behavior in youth while misleading the public about platform safeguards. Meta has denied wrongdoing as part of the broader multi-state settlement.