Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a bill banning children under 14 from using social media.
Under HB 3, children under 14 are entirely prohibited from having social media accounts, but 14- and 15-year-olds can join with parental consent.
Reuters explains, "The measure requires social media platforms to terminate the accounts of people under 14 and those of people under 16 who do not have parental consent. It requires them to use a third-party verification system to screen out those who are underage."
Social media companies must delete all data and information associated with existing accounts for children under 14. Those who fail to do so can now be subject to lawsuits filed by the parents.
"The bill does not name any specific social media platforms, but states that its targets are social media sites that promote 'infinite scrolling,' display reaction metrics such as likes, feature auto-play videos and have live-streaming and push notifications," the report added. "It would exempt websites and apps whose main function is email, messaging or texting between a particular sender and recipient."
Additionally, the law requires pornographic or sexually explicit websites to use age verification to prevent minors from accessing sites that are inappropriate for children.
The law will go into effect on January 1, 2025.
In a press release about the legislation, Gov. DeSantis said, "Social media harms children in a variety of ways."
“HB 3 gives parents a greater ability to protect their children. Thank you to Speaker Renner for delivering this landmark legislation,” the governor added.
“The internet has become a dark alley for our children where predators target them and dangerous social media leads to higher rates of depression, self-harm, and even suicide,” said Florida House Speaker Paul Renner. “I am proud of the work of all our bill sponsors, Representatives Tyler Sirois, Fiona McFarland, Michele Rayner, Chase Tramont, and Toby Overdorf for delivering a legislative framework that prioritizes keeping our children safe. Thanks to Governor DeSantis’ signature, Florida leads the way in protecting children online as states across the country fight to address these dangers.”
Reuters noted, "In March 2023 Utah became the first U.S. state to adopt laws regulating children's access to social media, followed by others including Arkansas, Louisiana, Ohio and Texas, according to a legislative analysis prepared for the Florida bill. The analysis said numerous other states were contemplating similar regulations."
