Changes are underway in how the state of Florida plans to regulate children’s use of social media.
Lawmakers are negotiating a new deal after Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed one that would have banned children under 16 from having social media accounts. The governor said he was concerned the language did not adequately protect privacy.
In a post on X, the governor wrote: “Protecting children from the harms associated with social media is important, as is supporting parents’ rights and maintaining adults’ ability to engage in anonymous speech… I anticipate the new bill will recognize these priorities and soon become law.”
With the legislative session ending Friday, lawmakers are up against the clock to get a new social media bill passed before the end of the week. This new version includes more parental rights than the governor wanted, but some say it still isn’t the way to address the issue.
Now wrapped into HB3, the measure passed the Senate with overwhelming support, 30-5, and is headed to the House.
The bill still doesn’t target specific social media sites but instead bans children from accessing those with addictive features like data-collecting algorithms and infinite scrolling. Platforms like X, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are likely to qualify.
Teens aged 14 and 15 could now have accounts under the new measure, but with parental consent. The bill does not specify how platforms obtain that consent but still holds them accountable for verifying the account holder’s age. Parents could sue the company for not following the rules.
State Senator Tina Polsky, a Democrat from Boca Raton who represents part of Palm Beach County, called the bill arbitrary and said it doesn’t address the core issue of parental control.
“I pay for their phone, their computer, their iPad, whatever the case may be, so I can control that. So for the government to come in and say, no, the age is 14, I think it touches on all the constitutional issues we’ve discussed,” she said. “I still think it’s a little random, just parental consent for 14- and 15-year-olds. It’s so limited that I don’t think it addresses the overall issue of parental consent.”
“I would say we have to do something and we can’t sit on our hands any longer and allow these companies to own our kids with this terrible content,” said State Senator Erin Grall, a Republican from Fort Pierce and the bill’s sponsor.
Meanwhile, State Senator Bobby Powell, a Democrat from West Palm Beach, voted against it.
“So far, there have been no courts that have upheld anything like this,” he said. “So to think that we will be the standard-bearer or the first to do so is a bit presumptuous.”
“There is no bill powerful enough to keep these kids off social media, it’s not possible,” he said upon hearing the details of the new bill.
“In that age group, what all the girls look at is beauty, beauty, beauty, makeup, makeup, makeup, face cream, face cream, face cream. It’s an epidemic among teenage girls right now.”
However, he believes it’s his responsibility to regulate, not politicians.
“If they want to take away the livelihood of such a large group, they won’t,” said Smith. “Social media is their entertainment, and the way to limit it is to limit the time they spend on technology while monitoring what they see on social media, and you really can’t put a bill to that, can you?”
All responsibility falls on social media platforms. There is no penalty for a parent or child if someone under 14 accesses social media or ends up with an account.
Lawmakers also clarified that the bill does not allow a child under 14 to be the account holder, but that doesn’t mean a parent can’t let them use the parent’s account.
Smith said his daughter is on his YouTube account, which allows him to better control what his daughter watches online.
Image: Wflx
