After skipping Meta's settlement, Florida asks a judge to pull under-14 users off Facebook and Instagram
Florida's attorney general asked a Pasco County court to pull under-14 users off Facebook and Instagram and cap teens at two hours a day. Having passed on its share of the multistate settlement, Florida now needs a judge to grant terms stricter than those Meta accepted elsewhere.
The Investor · Invest desk
What happened
- Meta settled with 48 other states and Washington DC in August, agreeing to pay up to $18 billion and change its products for teen users.
- The proposed order would switch off infinite scroll and autoplay by default and hide like and comment counts unless a parent turns them on.
- Florida also wants teen messaging cut off once time limits are reached and a bar on showing ads to teens, terms stricter than the settlement's.
- The filing asks for the changes to take effect immediately and stay in place while Florida's lawsuit moves forward.
Why it matters
- What doesn't add up contradiction Florida's Voice and CNA put the settlement $6.34 billion apart, so the size of the cash Florida gave up is uncertain by that much before its own share is even counted.
- What it sets up precedent Florida's office argues that the changes Meta made for other states show its stricter demands are workable, so a holdout state can cite the multistate terms in court as a floor.
- Who has to decide decision If a judge grants the age-check clause, Meta gets 30 days to build stronger verification for one state or stop serving under-14 users there until it does.
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Florida's case against the deal rests on cash, and its own figures can be checked [7]. According to Cryptopolitan's account, Florida's motion says the annual payment equals about two days of Meta's revenue, for a company it values at $1.86 trillion [7]. Florida's Voice, cited by the same outlet, put the deal at $11.66 billion over a decade across 51 states and territories [25]. That is about $1.17 billion a year [17]. If a year's payment on that figure is two days of revenue, Meta takes in about $583 million a day, or roughly $213 billion a year [18]. CNA describes the deal as up to $18 billion with 48 other states and Washington DC, and puts it at about one month of revenue [24][8]. One month at $18 billion implies $216 billion a year [19]. So the two reports roughly agree on Meta's revenue and disagree on the deal; the "up to" in the larger figure suggests a ceiling, and neither report explains the gap [20].
At either size the payment is under 1% of the market value Florida cited: 0.63% at $11.66 billion, 0.97% at $18 billion [21]. 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" [9]. Having made that case, Florida forgoes its share of the cash, whatever it would have been, and puts its legal effort into an order on how the apps work [6].
The proposed limits are tighter than the two-hour cap suggests [2]. On a school weekday, a default quiet mode blocks 9 p.m. to 8 a.m. and a second block covers 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. [4]. That leaves six hours, from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., and the cap allows a third of them [22]. The 60-hour monthly limit is the daily cap multiplied by 30 [5][23]. Unless parents can raise the daily cap, the monthly limit binds only in a 31-day month, and then by two hours [23].
Meta denied wrongdoing in settling and has said it works hard to keep teens safe; a spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment [15]. Florida's suit, brought under its Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, accuses Meta of calling its apps safe for young users while research pointed to anxiety, depression and self-harm [11]. The filing cites internal chats in which one employee wrote "IG is a drug" and another described the company as "basically pushers" [12].
If a judge grants the motion largely as written, Meta would run stricter teen rules in Florida than in the states that settled [24][13]. If a judge narrows or denies it, Florida has neither the settlement cash nor the terms while the case runs [6]. A third outcome is a separate Florida settlement, with the motion as leverage [6].
I think Florida's holdout is a bet on product terms. By its own figures the money is two days of Meta revenue a year [7], and the terms it wants beyond the settlement are ones Meta did not give the other states [13]. That view is wrong if Florida ends up settling separately and the main gain over the multistate deal is a bigger check [24].
What to watch
- The Pasco County court's ruling on the temporary injunction, and whether it keeps the ad bar and the messaging cutoff.
- Any move by Meta toward a Florida-only settlement, and whether its gains over the multistate deal come as cash or as product rules.
- Whether the $11.66 billion and up to $18 billion figures turn out to describe the same payout with contingent amounts.
Information, not investment advice. This story is general information about companies and markets, drawn from cited reporting. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security; check the cited sources before acting.
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- [1]
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier asked Pasco County Circuit Court on Wednesday for a temporary injunction ordering Meta to remove all children under 14 from Facebook and Instagram.
- [2]
The filing asks the court to limit teens in Florida to two hours a day across all apps and turn off features like autoplay and infinite scroll for them.
- [3]
The proposed terms would disable infinite scrolling and autoplay by default, and like and comment counts would remain hidden unless a parent chooses to turn them on.
- [4]
The proposed terms include a default quiet mode blocking access from 9 p.m. to 8 a.m. every day, with another restriction from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays during the school year.
- [5]
Florida wants a two-hour daily cap, mandatory breaks after long sessions, and a combined limit of 60 hours per month.
- [6]
Uthmeier, a Republican, opted not to join the multistate settlement and to proceed with Florida's lawsuit.
- [7]
Uthmeier argued the payout was insignificant for a tech company valued at $1.86 trillion, with the annual amount to be paid equal to about two days of Meta's revenue.
- [8]
The total settlement payout represents about three to four months of profit and about one month of revenue for Meta.
- [9]
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."
- [10]
The filing asked that the changes be implemented immediately and be in place while the lawsuit moves forward.
- [11]
The motion is part of a larger lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc. and Instagram LLC under Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, accusing Meta of calling its apps safe for young users while research pointed to anxiety, depression, self-harm and other harms.
- [12]
The filing cites internal Meta chat logs in which one employee wrote "IG is a drug" and another described the company as "basically pushers."
- [13]
The changes Uthmeier's filing seeks are more stringent than those Meta agreed to in the settlement, as they would cut off teens' access to messaging after their time limits are hit and bar the company from showing them advertisements.
- [14]
Uthmeier's office argued that the changes Meta agreed to make as part of the settlement are an indication these changes are possible.
- [15]
Meta has said it works hard to keep teens safe on its platforms and denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle; a Meta spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
- [16]
The motion states that if Meta cannot implement stronger age-verification measures within 30 days of a court order, it should be barred completely from serving users under 14 in Florida until it does.
- [17]
On the Florida's Voice figure, the settlement works out to about $1.17 billion a year.
- [18]
If $1.17 billion a year equals two days of revenue, Meta's implied revenue is about $583 million a day, or roughly $213 billion a year.
- [19]
If $18 billion equals about one month of revenue, Meta's implied annual revenue is about $216 billion.
- [20]
The two reported settlement figures differ by $6.34 billion, while the annual revenue each implies for Meta is within about $3 billion.
- [21]
The settlement equals about 0.63% of the $1.86 trillion market value Florida cited at $11.66 billion, and about 0.97% at $18 billion.
- [22]
On a school weekday the proposed blackouts leave a six-hour window from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., and the two-hour cap allows a third of it.
- [23]
The 60-hour monthly limit equals the two-hour daily cap over 30 days, so it binds only in a 31-day month, by up to two hours.
- [24]
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.
- [25]
Florida's Voice stated that the August 26 agreement was $11.66 billion spread over a decade across 51 states and territories.
Sources
2 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- channelnewsasia.comFlorida asks court to force Meta to change Facebook, Instagram for teens
1 article · October 7, 2026
- cryptopolitan.comFlorida after court injunction to restrict teens from accessing Meta's Facebook, Instagram
1 article · October 7, 2026
Topics and entities
Topics
- Children's online safety
- State attorney general litigation against tech companies
Entities
- Pasco County Circuit Court
- Meta Platforms
- Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act
- James Uthmeier