On Monday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation prohibiting minors under the age of 14 from creating social media profiles.
At Jacksonville’s Cornerstone Classical Academy, a charter school, DeSantis signed House Bill 3. DeSantis said in a statement that the bill “gives parents a greater ability to protect their children” and is one of the more stringent laws in a few states to keep an eye on kids’ social media use.
DeSantis, who had vetoed a previous version of the measure that specifically targeted social media users under the age of 16, stated, “Social media harms children in a variety of ways.”
The law will become operative on January 1st, 2025.
Specifically, the bill protects “the ability of Floridians to remain anonymous online, prevents a minor who is younger than 14 years of age from becoming a social media account holder,” and “empowers parents to decide whether 14 and 15-year-olds can have a social media account,” in addition to additional age verifications, according to the governor’s office.
“There are hazards out there when you look at young children. At a press conference alongside Florida’s Attorney General Ashley Moody and Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr., DeSantis stated, “Unfortunately, we have predators.”
“Now, with things like social media, you can have a kid in the house, safe seemingly, and then predators that can get right in there into your home,” DeSantis told the press. “You can be doing everything right, but they know how to manipulate these different platforms.”
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,” according to Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, a Republican.
“Florida leads the way in protecting children online as states across the country fight to address these dangers,” Renner stated in a statement regarding the law that omits any mention of any particular social media company.
DeSantis signed the bill on Monday, but it will probably face a first amendment lawsuit since Florida is now one of the states that has tried to restrict access to social media, along with California, Ohio, Arkansas, and Utah.
The new law, according to the Florida chapter of PEN America, “does not address the potential harm they may encounter on social media sites but instead prohibits them from sharing and engaging in constitutionally protected speech.” PEN America is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to raise awareness for the protection of free expression.
The director of the free-speech group, Katie Blankenship, stated, “We know social media sites can present significant risks to minors, but the state’s response to such risks should be tailored to minimize harm, not passing measures that violate Floridans’ constitutional rights.
