Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill Monday that bans children under 14 years old from holding social media accounts in the Sunshine State.
The legislation also requires 14- and 15-year-olds to obtain parental approval in order to hold accounts on social media platforms that employ algorithms and have “certain addictive features.”
“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,” Florida House Speaker Paul Renner said in a statement.
“Thanks to Governor DeSantis’ signature, Florida leads the way in protecting children online as states across the country fight to address these dangers,” he added.
The signing of Florida’s House Bill 3 comes after the governor and former Republican presidential candidate vetoed legislation earlier this month that would have banned children under 16 years old from holding accounts.
DeSantis suggested at a press conference Monday that he thinks the state’s new legislation will hold up better in court.
“I think this did as good a job as you can do — not just to say, ‘Here’s what we think is constitutional in our own judgement’ — but also what we think would ultimately be able to land, given how some judges have gone crosswise on some of these issues,” he said.
However, tech industry group NetChoice argued that the law will effectively impose “I.D. for the Internet” requirements on Floridians.
“HB 3 forces Floridians to hand over sensitive personal information to websites or lose their access to critical information channels,” Carl Szabo, NetChoice vice president and general counsel, said in a statement. “This infringes on Floridians’ First Amendment rights to share and access speech online.”
“We’re disappointed to see Gov. DeSantis sign onto this route,” Szabo continued. “There are better ways to keep Floridians, their families and their data safe and secure online without violating their freedoms.”
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