Roger Tejon v. Zeus Networks, LLC

Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit·Decided May 1, 2026·No. 24-11114·Published

Opinion

USCA11 Case: 24-11114 Document: 52-1 Date Filed: 05/01/2026 Page: 1 of 25

FOR PUBLICATION

In the

United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit

No. 24-11114

ROGER TEJON, individually and on behalf of, all others similarly situated, Plaintiff-Appellee,

versus

ZEUS NETWORKS, LLC, Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 1:24-cv-20498-PCH

Before ROSENBAUM, BRANCH, and KIDD, Circuit Judges. KIDD, Circuit Judge:

Zeus Networks, LLC, wants to bind Roger Tejon to an arbitration agreement found on its internet-based platform. But Zeus

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chose to bury the page containing that agreement behind a hyperlink that itself was written in small, gray text that Tejon did not have to click. This text was located beneath large, red action buttons that Tejon did have to click. Was the hyperlink text enough to put Tejon on notice that clicking on the large, red buttons would subject him to binding arbitration? We find that it was not.

I. BACKGROUND

Zeus operates an internet-based platform that offers prerecorded video programming to those who subscribe to its services. Roger Tejon visited Zeus’s platform using an Apple iOS device and subscribed to Zeus’s services.

When Tejon registered for the account with Zeus, he had to go to a subscription page titled “Choose your plan.” That page presented the user with two large, red buttons: one for an annual subscription and the other for a monthly subscription. Beneath those large, red buttons was much smaller, gray, hyperlinked text for “Terms of Service.” The page looked like this:

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Notably, the terms of service hyperlink was among the smallest and least visible text on the page, which also set forth the age restriction and the auto-renewal payment structure of the subscription . The terms of service hyperlink led to a different page with a mandatory arbitration clause.

After he subscribed, Tejon used his digital subscription to view programming on Zeus’s platform while logged into a social

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media account. Tejon alleges that Zeus shared his viewing history and personally identifiable information with the social media company without his consent. Tejon then sued Zeus for violating the Video Privacy Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2710.

Zeus moved to compel arbitration pursuant to its terms of service, and it argued that Tejon consented to the terms of service when he signed up for a Zeus account. After reviewing Zeus’s subscription page, the district court denied Zeus’s motion to compel arbitration. It concluded that Zeus’s agreement was not conspicuous enough to put a reasonably prudent person on inquiry notice of the arbitration provision at issue. We review that decision on appeal.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

We review de novo a district court’s denial of a motion to compel arbitration. JPay, Inc. v. Kobel, 904 F.3d 923, 928 (11th Cir. 2018).

III. DISCUSSION

A. Inquiry Notice

The Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) reflects a “liberal federal policy favoring arbitration.” AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 563 U.S. 333, 339 (2011) (citation omitted). But “[t]he federal policy is about treating arbitration contracts like all others, not about fostering arbitration.” Morgan v. Sundance, Inc., 596 U.S. 411, 418 (2022). Under the FAA, state law determines whether an arbitration agreement exists. Bazemore v. Jefferson Cap. Sys., LLC, 827 F.3d 1325, 1330

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(11th Cir. 2016). The parties agree that Florida law applies to this case.

Florida recognizes two categories of internet agreements:

clickwrap agreements and browsewrap agreements. MetroPCS Commc’ns, Inc. v. Porter, 273 So. 3d 1025, 1028 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2018) (citing Vitacost.com, Inc. v. McCants, 210 So. 3d 761, 762 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2017)). A clickwrap agreement requires a user to check a box or click a button to acknowledge acceptance of the agreement’s terms and conditions. Id. By contrast, a browsewrap agreement contains hyperlinked terms, and the user’s consent is implied by continued use of the website. See id. The parties do not dispute that the arbitration agreement at issue was contained within a browsewrap agreement on Zeus’s subscription page.

Browsewrap agreements can be problematic because “consumers are frequently left unaware that contractual terms were even offered, much less that continued use of the website will be deemed to manifest acceptance of those terms.” Berman v. Freedom Fin. Network, LLC, 30 F.4th 849, 856 (9th Cir. 2022). 1 Florida courts will enforce such agreements only if the “purchaser has actual knowledge of the terms and conditions, or when the hyperlink to the terms and conditions is conspicuous enough to put a

1 Berman is a Ninth Circuit decision that applies either New York or California

law. Still, it is a good articulation of the same principles that Florida law embodies . For example, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal in Miami Dolphins applied Berman when assessing conspicuousness. Mia. Dolphins, Ltd. v. Engwiller, 410 So. 3d 685, 689–90 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2025). Plus, Berman applies similar law to closely analogous facts.

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reasonably prudent person on inquiry notice.” MetroPCS Commc’ns, 273 So. 3d at 1028 (quoting Vitacost.com, 210 So. 3d at 762). The parties in this case focus on whether Tejon had inquiry notice of the arbitration clause.

To determine whether a hyperlink is sufficiently conspicuous , Florida law requires an evaluation of the general design and content of the page containing the hyperlink. See, e.g., Vitacost.com, 210 So. 3d at 763–64, 766 (finding hyperlink was not sufficiently conspicuous where purchaser had to scroll through multiple pages before the hyperlink appeared at the very bottom of the seller’s webpage); Mia. Dolphins, Ltd. v. Engwiller, 410 So. 3d 685, 689–90 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2025) (holding hyperlink was sufficiently conspicuous to place a reasonable user on inquiry notice where the hyperlink was bolded, appeared in a brightly colored ink, and was displayed at the center of the page).

Anyone who seeks to enforce an arbitration clause through a browsewrap agreement must prominently display the hyperlink that leads to the clause. “Consumers cannot be required to hover their mouse over otherwise plain-looking text or aimlessly click on words on a page in an effort to ferret out hyperlinks.” Mia. Dolphins, 410 So. 3d at 689 (citation modified). In other words, the “inquiry notice standard demands conspicuousness tailored to the reasonably prudent Internet user, not to the expert user, [so] the design of the hyperlinks must put such a user on notice of their existence.” Berman, 30 F.4th at 857 (citing Nguyen v. Barnes & Noble Inc., 763 F.3d 1171, 1177, 1179 (9th Cir. 2014)).

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Relevant design elements include the location of the hyperlink on the page, its proximity to buttons the user must click, and its font size, format, and color. See Mia. Dolphins, 410 So. 3d at 689– 90. Also relevant is whether the page provided an explicit textual notice that taking a certain action would constitute acceptance of the website’s terms. See Berman, 30 F.4th at 858 (finding the notice “I understand and agree to the Terms & Conditions” failed to explicitly notify users of the action they must take to consent to those terms and conditions because it lacked language such as, “By clicking the Continue >> button, you agree to the Terms & Conditions ”).

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