Overview

• Attorney General James Uthmeier filed the suit August 5 under HB 3 and the Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act against Webgroup Czech Republic, NKL Associates, Sonesta Technologies, GGW Group, Traffic F and GTFlix TV.
• HB 3, effective January 1, mandates independent, third-party age checks for online sites that publish material harmful to minors.
• Uthmeier sent compliance warning letters in April to two of the defendants, but neither company updated its age-verification processes.
• Experts and free speech advocates warn that such ID-based requirements threaten user privacy and can be circumvented with VPNs or fake credentials.
• Florida joins nearly 20 states that have enacted similar age-verification laws, reflecting a growing and contested regulatory patchwork.