LGBT Tech Joins Amicus Brief in CCIA v. Uthmeier

Last week, LGBT Tech joined an amicus brief to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, challenging Florida House Bill 3, a bill that would prohibit most minors from accessing social media and effectively impose age verification requirements on everyone, not just minors. If allowed to stand, the bill would prohibit all users under 14 from accessing social media without parental consent, and would require age verification from all users, regardless of age, to access any content falling under the vague definition of being “harmful to minors”. 

 Blanket bans on youth access to digital spaces such as the one proposed by Florida House Bill 3 do not  keep youth safe and are especially problematic for LGBTQ+ youth.In fact, it denies them access to potentially lifesaving communities and resources. This is particularly critical in states like Florida, where attacks on the LGBTQ+ community continue to escalate. Requiring not just age verification, but also parental consent, before minors are able to use social media platforms puts the most marginalized among us at disproportionate risk of harm. For many LGBTQ+ youth users, social media and digital spaces offer a unique escape from unaccepting physical environments, including unaccepting homes. Requiring parental permission for LGBTQ+ youth in unaccepting or unsafe home environments could result in further isolation or harm. 

By requiring age verification for general platform access, this bill creates hurdles to accessibility and privacy for adult users as well. Age verification isn’t just a burden for minors, all adults are also forced to surrender their anonymity and prove their identity, undermining privacy for everyone online.  Transgender users specifically often do not have access to an accurate form of government identification, further restricting their access to crucial digital spaces and resources. Despite requiring age verification, the bill lacks a framework to ensure user privacy when providing proof of age. For LGBTQ+ people, lack of privacy protections pose risk of disproportionate harm compared to other users, due to the chance of being “outed” or “doxxed” for their sexual or gender identity in an increasingly unwelcoming political environment. 

Florida's age verification does not help children; it instead pushes the state’s most at-risk youth even further to the margins. We urge the Court to consider the harms and risks created by this bill – especially for LGBTQ+ users – and maintain the lower court’s preliminary injunction against it.  Protecting digital access and privacy is vital, not only for youth, but for all individuals who rely on online spaces for education, community, safety and connection.