Meta plays ball while TikTok, Google and others ignore Florida law to keep kids safe online

After nearly two years of federal court wrangling brought on by trade associations representing Big Tech, Attorney General James Uthmeier claimed a major legal victory in November when the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals cleared the way for Florida’s landmark social media law to take effect.

Unfortunately for Florida parents, many of the same companies that challenged the law still aren’t following it.

HB 3, which bans children under 14 from creating social media accounts and requires parental consent for 14- and 15-year-olds, passed the Legislature in March 2024 and was signed later that month by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The law was a signature priority for then-House Speaker Paul Renner. “A child in their brain development doesn’t have the ability to know that they’re being sucked into these addictive technologies,” Renner said at the bill signing.

Once he defeated Big Tech’s lawsuit seeking to strike down the law, Uthmeier moved aggressively to make sure it finally took effect. “It’s been litigated in court the last couple years, we were victorious, so now we’re going to go out and enforce it,” he told “Fox & Friends“ in April, warning noncompliant platforms of $50,000-per-violation fines that could compound into the billions.

Despite those threats, most major tech companies covered under the law aren’t complying. TikTok and Google — which owns YouTube and YouTube Kids — have effectively ignored the law and stayed silent on their compliance plans.

One company stands apart. “I can confirm we heard from Meta, and they have announced they will be complying with our law effective in early May,” Uthmeier said during the same “Fox & Friends” appearance.

Meta followed through. Last month, Uthmeier said during a press conference that “Meta has suspended — at this point I don’t have a set number, but hundreds of thousands of accounts of underage kids. They are compliant with our law.”

Faced with ongoing silence elsewhere, Uthmeier sued TikTok in June for violating HB 3 by allowing underage accounts to persist and failing to secure parental consent for older teens. “TikTok knowingly deceives parents and allows children to be exposed to harmful and inappropriate content in direct violation of Florida law,” Uthmeier said. “We have zero tolerance for companies that prioritize profit over children’s safety.”

At the same press conference, Uthmeier put other platforms on notice. “Roblox is a real problem. … YouTube and others, you got to wake up,” he said. “This is real and you can save lives.”

Google’s silence is especially notable given how big YouTube and YouTube Kids loom in kids’ online lives. Pew Research found roughly nine in 10 U.S. teens use YouTube — more than any other platform — with about three-quarters on it daily.

The exposure risks are well documented: 46% of parents whose children age 11 or younger use YouTube said their child had encountered inappropriate content on the platform. Even YouTube Kids, rated for ages 4 and up in the App Store, has been found to serve children content on gender ideology and “systemic racism,” according to congressional testimony reported by Fox News — topics DeSantis and Uthmeier have both heavily criticized.

Whether Google, TikTok, Roblox and the rest follow Meta’s lead remains to be seen. If not, Uthmeier is likely to make good on his warning that holdouts will have to “open up your checkbook.”

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Ed. note: This story was drafted with assistance from AI. Editorial judgment, sourcing, and final review were performed by Peter Schorsch and the Florida Politics editorial team.