What is Florida’s HB 3 Act? Requirements & Compliance Overview

Latest Update — November 6, 2026

Florida’s HB 3, signed into law in March 2024, establishes new requirements aimed at protecting minors online. The law prohibits children under 14 from holding accounts on covered social media platforms, requires parental consent for 14- and 15-year-olds, and mandates age verification for access to certain online material deemed harmful to minors.

On October 14, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed a preliminary injunction against HB 3’s social media restrictions, allowing Florida to continue enforcing those provisions. Although the underlying constitutional challenge remains ongoing, the law is currently enforceable.

Like similar laws in other states, HB 3 has faced legal challenges involving First Amendment protections. The latest ruling underscores the evolving regulatory landscape for businesses navigating age assurance, parental consent, and children’s online privacy requirements.

Specifically, this Act:

• Prevents a minor who is younger than 14 years of age from becoming a social media account holder.
  
  
• Empowers parents to decide whether 14- and 15-year-olds can have a social media account, requiring parental consent.
  
  
• Allows the confirmed parent or guardian of an account holder who is 14 or 15 years of age to request that the minor's account be terminated.
  
  
• Protects the ability of Floridians to remain anonymous online.
  
  
• Requires material harmful to minors such as pornographic or sexually explicit websites to use anonymous age verification or standard age verification to verify that the age of a person attempting to access material is 18 years of age or older to prevent minors from accessing sites that are inappropriate for them.

Who does the HB 3 Act apply to?
The act applies to social media platforms and material harmful to minors. Florida HB 3 does not apply to every social media platform. To fall within the law’s definition, a service must meet several specific criteria related to user-generated content, time spent by minors, algorithmic content selection, and engagement features. All four criteria must be satisfied, and certain services are excluded.

As defined in the HB 3, “social media platform" means an online forum, website, or application that satisfies each of the following criteria:

• Allows users to upload content or view the content or activity of other users;
  
  
• Ten percent or more of the daily active users who are younger than 16 years of age spend on average 2 hours per day or longer on the online forum, website, or application on the days when using the online forum, website, or application during the previous 12 months or, if the online forum, website, or application did not exist during the previous 12 months, during the previous month;
  
  
• Employs algorithms that analyze user data or information on users to select content for users; and
  
  
• Has any of the following addictive features:
  
  
  • Infinite scrolling, which means either; (I) Continuously loading content, or content that loads as the user scrolls down the page without the need to open a separate page; or (II) Seamless content, or the use of pages with no visible or apparent end or page breaks.
    
    
  • Push notifications or alerts sent by the online forum, website, or application to inform a user about specific activities or events related to the user's account.
    
    
  • Displays personal interactive metrics that indicate the number of times other users have clicked a button to indicate their reaction to content or have shared or reposted the content.
    
    
  • Auto-play video or video that begins to play without the user first clicking on the video or on a play button for that video.
    
    
  • Live-streaming or a function that allows a user or advertiser to broadcast live video content in real-time.

The term social media platform does not include an online service, website, or application where the exclusive function is e-mail or direct messaging consisting of text, photographs, pictures, images, or videos shared only between the sender and the recipients, without displaying or posting publicly or to other users not specifically identified as the recipients by the sender.

"Material harmful to minors" as defined in the HB 3, is any material that:

• The average person applying contemporary community standards would find, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest;
  
  
• Depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct as specifically defined in s. 847.001(19); and
  
  
• When taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors. 

Effective Date and Current Legal Status

Florida HB 3 took effect on January 1, 2025, but its enforcement has been subject to ongoing constitutional challenges.

On June 3, 2025, a federal district court issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of certain social media provisions. On November 25, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit stayed that injunction, allowing Florida to enforce the challenged provisions while the appeal proceeded.

On October 14, 2026, the Eleventh Circuit reversed the preliminary injunction, finding that the challenged social media restrictions would likely withstand constitutional scrutiny. This ruling allows Florida to continue enforcing those provisions while the underlying lawsuit proceeds in federal district court.

Current Status: Enforceable — Litigation Ongoing

As a result:

• HB 3’s social media restrictions remain enforceable in Florida.
• Covered social media platforms must comply with applicable age-based account restrictions, parental consent requirements, and account termination obligations.
• Platforms should assess whether their services fall within HB 3’s definitions, including criteria related to algorithms and engagement features such as infinite scrolling, autoplay, and push notifications.

Although the appellate court’s decision represents a significant legal development, it does not resolve the underlying constitutional challenge. Further proceedings will continue in federal district court.

For businesses, the key takeaway is clear: HB 3’s challenged social media provisions remain enforceable while litigation continues.

Enforcement:
The Department of Legal Affairs is authorized to bring actions under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act for knowing or reckless violations. The department may collect a civil penalty from social media platforms or a commercial entity that allows a minor to access harmful material of up to $50,000 per violation and reasonable attorney fees, court costs and punitive damages. Claimants may be awarded up to $10,000 in damages.

What Should Businesses Do Now?

Although constitutional litigation surrounding Florida’s HB 3 continues, the law’s social media restrictions remain enforceable. Businesses should not assume that ongoing legal challenges relieve them of their compliance obligations.

Companies operating social media platforms that may fall within HB 3’s scope should assess their services against the law’s requirements and evaluate whether their existing age assurance, parental consent, and account management processes are sufficient.

For covered platforms, compliance considerations include restricting accounts for children under 14, obtaining parental consent for 14- and 15-year-olds, and implementing required account termination procedures.

Businesses should also evaluate whether Florida’s separate age-verification requirements for websites providing material harmful to minors apply to their services.

Preparing for compliance now can help businesses address current obligations while remaining adaptable to future regulatory and legal developments.

PRIVO helps organizations navigate evolving children’s privacy and age assurance requirements, including implementing age verification and verifiable parental consent solutions.

Not sure how Florida’s HB 3 affects your platform? ⁠Contact PRIVO to discuss your age assurance and parental consent needs.

For more information about HB 3:
>> View the bill: HB 3: Online Protection for Minors