Online Protections for Minors (HB 3) ↗
N.D. Fla. (Judge Mark Walker) preliminarily enjoined HB 3's minor-account provisions on 2025-06-03; the Eleventh Circuit stayed that injunction 2-1 on 2025-11-25, holding the law likely survives intermediate scrutiny, so HB 3 is enforceable pending the merits appeal.
HB 3 also contains a separate 'material harmful to minors' age-verification regime for commercial pornography sites (the 33.3%-of-content threshold), which is a separate provision from the social-media minor-account rules covered here and is not decomposed in this record. Statute section pins pending a pass against the enrolled text.
Scope
The minor-account duties bind a 'social media platform,' defined conjunctively as an online service that (a) lets users upload or view others' content, (b) has 10% or more of its daily active users under 16 who average 2+ hours/day on it, (c) uses an algorithm to select content, and (d) offers at least one addictive feature (infinite scroll, push notifications, engagement metrics such as likes/shares, autoplay, or live-streaming).
- 10% or more of the service's daily active users are under 16 and average 2 or more hours per day on it.(Fla. Stat. § 501.1736 (HB 3, ch. 2024-42), section pin pending verification)
- The service uses an algorithm to select content and offers at least one addictive feature (infinite scroll, push notifications, engagement metrics such as likes/shares, autoplay, or live-streaming).(Fla. Stat. § 501.1736 (HB 3, ch. 2024-42), section pin pending verification)
- Services whose exclusive function is email or direct messaging are excluded.
Penalties
- Model
- Per violation
- Detail
- Violations are unfair/deceptive trade practices under FDUTPA; civil penalties up to $50,000 per violation, plus attorney's fees and court costs, and punitive damages for knowing/reckless patterns
- Enforcer
- Florida Department of Legal Affairs (Attorney General)
- Private right of action
- Yes
Key dates
- Signed
- 2024-03-25
- Effective
- 2025-01-01
Obligations (2)
Prohibit account creation by minors under 14, and require verifiable parental consent for 14- and 15-year-olds; terminate non-compliant accounts subject to a dispute period.
Statute’s own ages: Under 14: no account permitted; 14-15: account only with verifiable parental consent; 16 and older: unrestricted
Use a reasonable age-verification method (including an anonymous third-party option) to determine whether a user falls under the covered age lines.
Statute’s own ages: The statute pivots at 14 (account ban) and 16 (definition of a covered minor for account rules)
Litigation history
- 2025-06-03N.D. Fla. (Judge Mark Walker) granted a preliminary injunction blocking HB 3's minor-account (under-14 ban and 14-15 parental-consent) provisions in CCIA & NetChoice v. Uthmeier→ Minor-account provisions unenforceable while the injunction stood source ↗
- 2025-11-25Eleventh Circuit (2-1) granted the State's motion to stay the preliminary injunction pending appeal, finding HB 3 likely constitutional under intermediate scrutiny (Rosenbaum, J., dissenting)→ Enforceable pending the merits appeal source ↗
Cross-state comparisons
- similartx-hb18 (Texas): Companion 2024-era minor-protection laws; both impose age-determination and parental duties on social online services and were preliminarily enjoined on First Amendment grounds. FL HB 3's injunction was stayed (enforceable); TX HB 18's remains in place.
- similarms-hb1126 (Mississippi): Both require age determination and parental gating for minors and reached appellate stays that left the laws enforceable pending merits review.