A bill to create one of the nation’s most restrictive bans on minors’ use of social media is heading to Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has expressed concerns about the legislation to keep children under the age of 16 off popular platforms regardless of parental approval.
The House passed the bill on a 108-7 vote Thursday just hours after the Senate approved it 23-14. The Senate made changes to the original House bill, which Republican Speaker Paul Renner said he hopes will address DeSantis’ questions about privacy.
The bill targets any social media site that tracks user activity, allows children to upload material and interact with others, and uses addictive features designed to cause excessive or compulsive use. Supporters point to rising suicide rates among children, cyberbullying and predators using social media to prey on kids.
The controversial bill seeks to protect children's mental health against the "addictive features" of such platforms, amid fears over online dangers including from sexual predators, cyber bullying and teen suicide.
The legislation, which was approved 23-14, will now go back to the state House. It has already passed there, with the House speaker championing the legislation, but changes made in the Senate need to be approved in the lower chamber.
It would then have to be signed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who has expressed skepticism about the legislation. Similar efforts by other states have previously been blocked by courts.
“We’re talking about businesses that are using addictive features to engage in mass manipulation of our children to cause them harm,” said the bill’s Senate sponsor, Republican Erin Grall.
Under DeSantis Florida has passed laws to curtail teaching about sex education and gender identity in schools and to eradicate diversity programs in state-funded universities.
Scores of books have been removed from the state's school library shelves in recent months, deemed inappropriate for children by conservative parents and school boards.
Some critics say such a law targeting social media use would violate the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech.
Other states have considered similar legislation, but most have not proposed a total ban. In Arkansas, a federal judge blocked enforcement of a law in August that required parental consent for minors to create new social media accounts.
Supporters in Florida hope that if the bill becomes law, it would withstand legal challenges because it would ban social media formats based on addictive features such as notification alerts and autoplay videos, rather than the content on their sites.
But opponents say it blatantly violates the First Amendment and that it should left to parents, not the government, to monitor children’s social media use.
“This isn’t 1850. While parents show up at school board meetings to ban books, their kids are on their iPads looking at really bad stuff,” said Democratic state Sen. Jason Pizzo.
He sarcastically said lawmakers have other options if they want to parent other people’s children.
The legislation had a mix of Republicans and Democrats on both sides of the issue.
DeSantis said he understood that the platforms could be harmful to teenagers, but stressed that parents need to play a role in monitoring use.
“We can’t say that 100% of the uses are bad because they’re not,” DeSantis said at an Orlando-area news conference before the bill passed. “I don’t think it’s there yet, but I hope we can get there in a way that answers parents’ concerns.”
The Florida bill would require social media companies to close any accounts it believes to be used by minors and to cancel accounts at the request of a minor or parents. Any information pertaining to the account must be deleted.
The House passed the bill on a 108-7 vote Thursday just hours after the Senate approved it 23-14. The Senate made changes to the original House bill, which Republican Speaker Paul Renner said he hopes will address DeSantis’ questions about privacy.
The bill targets any social media site that tracks user activity, allows children to upload material and interact with others, and uses addictive features designed to cause excessive or compulsive use. Supporters point to rising suicide rates among children, cyberbullying and predators using social media to prey on kids.
The controversial bill seeks to protect children's mental health against the "addictive features" of such platforms, amid fears over online dangers including from sexual predators, cyber bullying and teen suicide.
The legislation, which was approved 23-14, will now go back to the state House. It has already passed there, with the House speaker championing the legislation, but changes made in the Senate need to be approved in the lower chamber.
It would then have to be signed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who has expressed skepticism about the legislation. Similar efforts by other states have previously been blocked by courts.
“We’re talking about businesses that are using addictive features to engage in mass manipulation of our children to cause them harm,” said the bill’s Senate sponsor, Republican Erin Grall.
Under DeSantis Florida has passed laws to curtail teaching about sex education and gender identity in schools and to eradicate diversity programs in state-funded universities.
Scores of books have been removed from the state's school library shelves in recent months, deemed inappropriate for children by conservative parents and school boards.
Some critics say such a law targeting social media use would violate the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech.
Other states have considered similar legislation, but most have not proposed a total ban. In Arkansas, a federal judge blocked enforcement of a law in August that required parental consent for minors to create new social media accounts.
Supporters in Florida hope that if the bill becomes law, it would withstand legal challenges because it would ban social media formats based on addictive features such as notification alerts and autoplay videos, rather than the content on their sites.
But opponents say it blatantly violates the First Amendment and that it should left to parents, not the government, to monitor children’s social media use.
“This isn’t 1850. While parents show up at school board meetings to ban books, their kids are on their iPads looking at really bad stuff,” said Democratic state Sen. Jason Pizzo.
He sarcastically said lawmakers have other options if they want to parent other people’s children.
The legislation had a mix of Republicans and Democrats on both sides of the issue.
DeSantis said he understood that the platforms could be harmful to teenagers, but stressed that parents need to play a role in monitoring use.
“We can’t say that 100% of the uses are bad because they’re not,” DeSantis said at an Orlando-area news conference before the bill passed. “I don’t think it’s there yet, but I hope we can get there in a way that answers parents’ concerns.”
The Florida bill would require social media companies to close any accounts it believes to be used by minors and to cancel accounts at the request of a minor or parents. Any information pertaining to the account must be deleted.
Follow US
Most Viewed Stories
