Governor Ron DeSantis signed a revised bill that restricts access for some minors to social media platforms.
The bill, titled HB 3, would prohibit children under 14 from creating social media accounts. Minors aged 14 and 15 may have accounts on these platforms provided they have parental consent.
House Speaker Paul Renner said the bill does not focus on the content of these platforms but on “addictive features” such as infinite scrolling, likes, and algorithms.
“To be under the law, you must have a personalized algorithm that selects content for your children, encouraging them to stay online a few more hours each day and guiding and pushing them in a particular direction,” Renner said. “And many times, when they suffer from mental health issues, that leads them in a very, very dark direction.”
Adult websites featuring sexually explicit material will also need to implement age-verification methods to keep minors off their platforms.
In addition to protections for minors, it would protect Floridians by allowing them to remain anonymous online.
State leaders also said this bill would help prevent children from interacting with adults online who might take advantage of them.
“It used to be bad if they were somewhere, maybe not being supervised, maybe some predator could strike,” DeSantis said. “Now, with things like social media and all this, you can have a child at home safe, apparently, and then you have predators who can get right in there, in your own home.”
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody also emphasized the severity of crimes committed against minors through social media.
“Not only do they coerce and blackmail them into sending explicit photos of themselves, but they lure them away from their homes, schools, and communities, and sexually abuse them,” Moody said.
The bill will take effect on January 1, 2025.
Image: Wflx
