• by Wendy Davis , Yesterday

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier on Wednesday pressed his bid for a court order requiring Snap to comply with a law that would require it to remove some teens' accounts.

That law, HB 3, prohibits 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 a platform if at least 10% of users under 16 spend at least two hours per day on average at that platform. The law only covers platforms that employ an allegedly addictive quality -- such as displaying “like” counts, or automatically playing videos.

Earlier this year, Uthmeier sued Snapchat operator Snap in state court for allegedly "openly defying" the law, and sought a judicial order requiring the company to disable some teens' accounts.

That suit was transferred to federal court and, in August, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Walker in the Northern District of Florida rejected Uthmeier's request on the grounds that HB 3 likely violates the First Amendment.

Walker noted in his ruling that he had already decided in a related lawsuit by tech industry groups that the Florida statute likely violates teens' free speech rights.

"A prerequisite to temporary injunctive relief is a substantial likelihood of success on the merits," Walker wrote, adding that Florida could not "establish a substantial likelihood of success on the merits" given his prior ruling.

Uthmeier is now appealing Walker's ruling to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Among other arguments, Uthmeier says the law is constitutional because its restrictions hinge on Snapchat's features -- not the content of any particular posts.

"HB3 does not target, or 'focus' on, any expression because it applies without regard to the nature of any message on Snapchat," the attorney general's office argues in papers filed Wednesday with the appellate court.

His office adds that two of Snapchat's allegedly addictive features, such as videos that play automatically and "infinite scroll" -- which he says "displays an 'endless stream' of content" -- are "content agnostic" because "they convey no message."

Those features "are product design choices that exploit the psychology of behavioral addiction and keep users on the platform as long as possible regardless of the content they see," the state adds.

Uthmeier's office also argues the law furthers Florida's interest in protecting minors.

"Adolescent use of social media is pervasive, and adolescents are especially susceptible to compulsive use that resembles addiction to drugs and gambling," his office argues, adding that the law "does not burden substantially more speech than necessary to protect the physical and psychological wellbeing of minors."

Snap is expected to file a response next month.