By Diana Novak Jones
Oct 7 (Reuters) – Florida asked a state judge on Wednesday to order changes to Instagram and Facebook to better protect young users, pressing ahead with a lawsuit accusing parent Meta Platforms of harming teens after most states resolved similar claims through a sweeping settlement.
In a filing in a Pasco County court, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier asked for a temporary injunction forcing Meta to identify and remove users in the state under the age of 14 from those platforms, limit teens there to two hours a day across all apps and turn off features like autoplay and infinite scroll for them.
The filing asked that the changes be implemented immediately and be in place while the lawsuit moves forward.
A Meta spokesperson in a statement said after the company’s settlement with nearly every other state, Florida should focus on getting other platforms to take action.
“The attorney general should be using taxpayer resources to get YouTube and TikTok to empower parents and protect teens in Florida. We regret that he has chosen instead to pursue a meritless preliminary injunction years into the litigation,” the spokesperson said.
Florida’s lawsuit against Meta, which accuses the company of knowingly engineering its platforms to be addictive for young users and misleading consumers about its safety, was one of dozens of similar lawsuits filed by states across the country.
In August, Meta reached settlements with 48 of the other states and Washington, DC, agreeing to pay up to $18 billion and make changes for teen users of its platforms.
Meta has said it works hard to keep teens safe on its platforms, and the company denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle. The total payout represents about three to four months of profit and about one month of revenue for Meta.
Uthmeier, a Republican, opted not to join the settlement and proceed with his lawsuit.
Florida said in the filing that the settlement amounted to a “mere slap on the wrist, will be cynically viewed as the cost of doing business, and in any event will not prevent this kind of behavior going forward.”
The changes Uthmeier’s filing seeks are more stringent than those the company agreed to as part of that settlement, as they would cut off teens’ access to messaging after their time limits are hit and bar the company from showing them advertisements.
The changes Meta agreed to make as part of the settlement are an indication these changes are possible, Uthmeier’s office argued.
(Reporting by Diana Novak Jones, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Bill Berkrot)
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