James Uthmeier asks court to rein in Meta’s teen apps

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is asking a Pasco County judge to impose temporary limits on Meta’s teen apps while the state’s lawsuit continues¹.

Uthmeier filed the motion Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in a Pasco County court, according to Reuters. A temporary injunction is an interim order, one that would bind Meta before the case is decided. The underlying suit accuses Meta of knowingly engineering its platforms to be addictive for young users and misleading consumers about their safety¹. The Floridian notes that the fight lands less than four weeks before Uthmeier faces Democrat José Javier Rodríguez on Nov. 3 for a full four-year term². For Florida parents, the question now before the judge is whether protections begin while the case is pending or only after a verdict.

Rules for teen accounts

According to The Floridian, the motion asks the court to compel short-term changes, including removing users under 14 and capping teens at two hours a day across Meta's apps². It also seeks to disable autoplay, infinite scroll and late-night notifications. The rules would apply to Instagram and Facebook, and the filing asks that the changes be implemented immediately¹ and remain in place while the lawsuit proceeds.

Reuters reports that Meta would have to identify those Florida users under 14 before removing them, and that the two-hour teen limit would run across all of the company's apps. Two provisions reach past the multistate settlement Meta signed in August: they would cut off teens' access to messaging once their time limits are hit and bar Meta from showing them advertisements. Uthmeier’s office argues the settlement changes show the requested measures are feasible. Meta pushed back. A Meta spokesperson said the attorney general should be pressing YouTube and TikTok instead¹.

1. AugustMeta signed the multistate settlement
2. Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026Uthmeier filed the motion for a temporary injunction
3. Nov. 3Uthmeier faces José Javier Rodríguez for a full four-year term

$18 billion

Parents and online safety

Family Brief supports limits on autoplay and infinite scroll as safeguards for children online. Autoplay and infinite scroll work against parents’ ability to set limits at the dinner table and after lights out. An order that limits those features on teen accounts puts the court on the side of mothers and fathers, and those limits belong in force now, not after a trial.

Florida stands apart

Florida was one of a handful of states that stayed out of the landmark settlement with Meta, which includes daily time limits for teens, nighttime and school-hour blocks, and new parental controls. The Washington Post reports that Meta agreed to pay as much as $18 billion in that settlement³, and the state attorneys general tied roughly 30% of the payout to YouTube and TikTok adopting similar protections². Volusia County School Board member Jessie Thompson praised Uthmeier but said the injunction is a partial victory until it also covers YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat.

For Florida parents, the next decisions come at the Nov. 3 election and in the 2027 legislative session, where online protections for children will be weighed².

Sources

1. Florida asks court to force Meta to change Facebook, Instagram for teens
2. AG Uthmeier Continues Fight to Protect Florida Children Online As Parents Call for Industry-Wide Protections · The Floridian
3. Meta agrees to sweeping changes, $18 billion payout in landmark state settlement — The Washington Post