TALLAHASSEE — A federal judge Tuesday blocked a 2024 Florida law aimed at keeping children off social-media platforms, saying it likely violates First Amendment rights and pointing to the role of parents in policing social-media use.

“An established principle in the First Amendment context is that enabling individuals to voluntarily restrict problematic content at the receiving end is preferred over restricting speech at the source,” Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker wrote in a 58-page opinion. “In this context, that means that parents are best positioned to make the appropriately individualized determinations about whether or when their children should use social media platforms, and if so, which platforms and under what conditions.”

Walker issued a preliminary injunction sought by

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