Florida Lawyer Normal James Uthmeier introduced a lawsuit immediately towards Snap, Inc., the mum or dad firm of Snapchat, alleging the social media large knowingly violated state legal guidelines designed to guard minors from on-line hurt.
The authorized motion, filed in accordance with Florida’s Misleading and Unfair Commerce Practices Act and final 12 months’s Home Invoice 3 (HB 3), accuses Snap of deceptive Florida households concerning the risks kids face on its platform. The swimsuit alleges that Snap each violated the state’s statutory necessities for youth social media entry and did not disclose dangerous content material and options embedded within the Snapchat app.
“We take the security and safety of kids very critically, and as a part of our mission to make Florida the most effective place to lift a household, we’re holding social media platforms that hurt kids accountable,” stated Lawyer Normal Uthmeier in an announcement. “Snap is deceiving Florida dad and mom concerning the risks kids face on the app, from behavioral addictive options to permitting sexual predators and drug sellers entry, and we can not enable this deception to proceed.”
HB 3, which was signed into regulation by Governor Ron DeSantis in 2023, targets addictive design components in social media platforms that encourage compulsive use. The regulation identifies 5 such options—4 of which Snapchat allegedly makes use of, together with infinite scrolling, push notifications, auto-play movies, and interactive metrics corresponding to SnapStreaks.
Below HB 3, platforms utilizing these options are prohibited from providing companies to customers identified to be 13 or youthful. Moreover, accounts for 14- and 15-year-olds require verified parental consent. The lawsuit asserts that Snap has knowingly continued to violate these provisions by advertising and marketing the app as applicable for customers aged 13 and older, regardless of admitting in different litigation that it falls beneath HB 3’s jurisdiction.
– Commercial –
The criticism additional alleges that Snap, Inc. fails to guard minors from dangerous and inappropriate content material, together with publicity to pornography, profanity, drug use, and sexually suggestive themes. It additionally highlights the app’s function in facilitating contact between minors and potential predators or drug sellers, a priority that Florida’s authorized framework explicitly goals to deal with.
“Slightly than obeying Florida regulation, Snap is actively deceiving dad and mom concerning the dangers related to utilizing the platform,” Uthmeier’s workplace said.
The lawsuit marks a big escalation in Florida’s effort to control tech corporations and their affect on kids. If profitable, it might set a precedent for additional actions towards social media companies that function inside the state.
Snap, Inc. has but to situation a public response to the submitting.
