Winter Springs, Florida — State legal authorities have formally requested an immediate court injunction requiring Meta Platforms to bar children younger than 14 from Instagram and Facebook and to shut down algorithmic features that officials contend foster compulsive usage among older minors.
The motion, submitted by Attorney General James Uthmeier in Pasco County circuit court, asks a judge to impose sweeping operating restrictions while Florida continues litigating its consumer protection lawsuit against the technology company. Beyond ejecting users under 14, the requested order would restrict teenagers across the state to a maximum of two hours per day across Meta applications, cut off private messaging functions after that threshold, and prevent the platform from delivering commercial advertisements to minors.
State attorneys specifically targeted design mechanisms such as automatic video playback, endless feed refresh, public engagement tallies, and overnight alerts, asserting that Meta deliberately deployed psychological tactics to maintain adolescent attention despite internal warnings regarding youth anxiety and mental distress. Florida previously declined to participate in an $18 billion nationwide settlement negotiated by 48 other states and the District of Columbia in August, with state prosecutors arguing that the multistate arrangement failed to establish sufficient structural safeguards.
