• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, Yesterday

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier this week appealed an order that blocks the state from enforcing new restrictions on teens' ability to use social platforms.

Uthmeier's move marks the most recent development in a battle over Florida's House Bill 3, which would prohibit platforms with “addictive features” from allowing anyone under 14 to create or maintain accounts, and requires those platforms to obtain parental consent before allowing 14- or 15-year-olds to create or maintain accounts.

Those restrictions apply to platforms with an allegedly addictive quality -- such as displaying “like” counts, or automatically playing videos. The statute only covers a platform if at least 10% of users under 16 spend at least two hours per day on average at that platform.

The tech industry groups NetChoice and Computer & Communications Industry Association challenged the law on First Amendment grounds, arguing that it infringes teens' rights by preventing them from accessing lawful speech.

U.S. District Court Judge Mark Walker in Tallahassee sided with the organizations and enjoined enforcement of the law. He wrote in a decision issued Tuesday that the statute violates teens' free speech rights.

“Youth have First Amendment rights,” Walker wrote in a 58-page opinion. “Youth are people, not mere people-in-waiting or extensions of their parents. They have their own interests, ideas, and minds.”

He added that prior court decisions have upheld minors' First Amendment rights “to learn, to refuse to salute the flag, to protest war, to view films, to play video games, to attend political rallies or religious services even without the authorization of their parents, and more.”

Almost immediately after the ruling came out, Uthmeier initiated an appeal of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. His office hasn't yet filed substantive arguments with that court.