Florida Appeals Court Keeps Meta Child-Safety Suit Alive

Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal on Wednesday dismissed a petition by Meta Platforms Inc. and Instagram LLC that sought to stop a Pasco County consumer-protection suit over alleged platform design features aimed at children, according to the court’s 19-page opinion and reporting by Fox 49 and Courthouse News Service.

The ruling

Judge Andrea Teves Smith, writing for a three-judge panel that included Judges Robert Morris and Suzanne Labrit, held that Meta had not made the threshold showing of irreparable harm required for common-law certiorari review. The panel did not decide whether Meta is immune from liability under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act or whether the First Amendment bars the state’s claims on the merits. It dismissed the petition for lack of jurisdiction.

Smith wrote that Section 230’s safe-harbor language confers limited statutory protection from civil liability for certain third-party content and screening activity, not absolute immunity from being sued at all. Forcing Meta to continue litigating, the court said, is not irreparable harm under Florida certiorari standards. On the free-speech argument, the panel said the trial order “did not alter the status quo,” imposed no new restrictions, granted no injunction, and did not compel Meta to speak.

Background

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s office sued Meta under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, alleging the company used design features that maximize engagement among users under 18 in ways the state calls deceptive and harmful. Meta moved to dismiss, citing Section 230 and the First Amendment. Pasco County Circuit Judge Alicia Polk denied the motion in a brief order finding the complaint sufficiently pled the claims. Meta then sought a writ of certiorari in the Second District, case No. 2D2025-3187.

Courthouse News reported that Florida did not join an August multi-state settlement with Meta over claims involving children and social media, and that Uthmeier had sought a temporary injunction with limits on minors’ access and late-night notifications. The Pasco County judge declined that injunction while letting the case proceed, Courthouse News said. Meta’s petition challenged the denial of dismissal, not a final judgment on liability.

Path ahead

The appeals court expressly stated that its dismissal of the petition is not a comment on the merits of the attorney general’s complaint or on Meta’s immunity and First Amendment defenses. Those issues remain for the trial court. Fox 49 quoted Uthmeier celebrating the decision and saying Florida would continue to pursue the case; the station noted the ruling does not find that Meta violated state law. A Meta spokesperson did not immediately comment to Courthouse News.

Allegations in the complaint remain unproven in court. Meta has previously pointed to parental controls and teen time limits, according to Courthouse News.

Sources: Florida Second District Court of Appeal, Fox 49, Courthouse News Service.