Florida has enacted a bill that imposes one of the most strict social media bans for minors in the country, one that is expected to face legal challenges. The bill was signed into law by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday.
The bill will ban social media accounts for children under age 14 and require parental permission for 14- and 15-year-olds. It is a slightly watered down version of a similar proposal, which DeSantis vetoed earlier this month. If it overcomes the anticipated legal challenges from major tech companies, the measure is set to be implemented in early 2025.
Florida Passes Restrictive Social Media Law
"You can have a kid in the house safe, seemingly, and then you have predators that can get right in there into your own home," DeSantis said at a press conference in Jacksonville.
The state may follow pace with legislation mandating age verification, which has caused XXX content aggregator Pornhub to deny access to users in a minimum of six states.
DeSantis was accompanied at he bill signing by local school administrators and bill sponsors, in addition to state Attorney General Ashley Moody and Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr.
Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, (R-Palm Coast) negotiated with DeSantis on the legislation (HB 3) subsequent to the governor's veto of the initial iteration, which was justified on grounds of legal and parents' rights considerations.
The legislation was overwhelmingly supported by both chambers of the legislature, with a small percentage of Democrats expressing dissent and asserting that it constituted an abuse of power by the government that would be challenged in court.
First Amendment advocacy organizations have expressed their opposition to the measure with similar sentiments.
The social media platforms that fall within the scope of the bills are those that incorporate functionalities like push notifications and infinite scrolling, which loads content automatically as the user scrolls down, obviating the necessity to click on a subsequent page. Renner stated that these characteristics have had a "devastating effect" on the mental health of children.
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Social Media's Effect to Minors
Users must be at least 13 years old to access major social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
That regulation originates from the 1998 "Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule," which prohibited the collection of personal information from children without parental consent.
A survey conducted by the non-profit research organization Common Sense Media and published in 2022, however, revealed an increase in usage among minors ages 8 to 12.
The text of H.B. 3 states that the changes would apply to social media platforms with "addictive features" such as infinite scrolling and push notifications, in addition to those where more than 10 percent "of the daily active users who are younger than 16 years old spend on average two hours per day."
However, the bill does not specify which platforms would be impacted. Politicians nationwide have directed criticism towards the elements that contribute to the allure of social media-the algorithmic sorcery and the multitude of notifications that impede users from averting the inundation of information that arrives.
US Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy issued a warning last year that "social media use is associated with harm to the mental health of young people." In addition, children who misuse it may be more susceptible to developing anxiety, melancholy, and eating disorders.
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