Florida House Passes Bill Banning Social Media for Kids Under 16

The Old Florida Capitol, built in 1845 and photographed March 14, 2023, now serves as a museum, while the government work of Florida is based in a newer Capitol building behind it in Tallahassee, Fla. Nanette Holt/The Epoch Times

The state of Florida is one step closer to putting an age restriction on social media platforms as new legislation passes the House of Representatives with the support of both Republicans and Democrats.

Called HB-1: Social Media Use for Minors, it prohibits anyone younger than 16 from using social media platforms regardless of parental consent and, if signed into law, will go into effect July 1, 2024.

The Republican-sponsored legislation was passed with a bipartisan vote of 106-13, as representatives on both sides of the aisle testified to the negative effects of social media, such as exposing children to bullying, harassment, and addictive elements.

“I’m grateful to the members of this body for their decisive action to fight for our kids and their ability to thrive,” Speaker of the House Paul Renner said on X (formerly Twitter). “We must address the harmful effects social media platforms have on the development and well-being of our kids. Florida has a compelling state interest and duty to protect our children, their mental health, and their childhood.”

Democratic Rep. Michele K. Rayner shared a clip of her supporting this bill in the House chamber on X.

“Imagine what our babies have to deal with when they have their classmates in school doing the same cyberbullying to them,” she said, adding that the social media companies are being “built on the backs of our babies” while being fully aware of the negative effects its having on them.

If passed, HB-1 would also require social media companies to use age verification to ensure all users are 16 years of age or older and delete any pre-existing accounts “reasonably known by the social media company” to belong to someone below that age ceiling. A minimum 90-day dispute window for account holders to dispute the termination by verifying a newly-legal age is required, but so is an expedited termination process for requesting account holders under 16 (five days), and their parent or legal guardians (10 days). All personal information of the minor that goes beyond any legal requirements held by the platform must also be terminated.

For users between 16 and 18, the bill would also require social media platforms to provide a disclosure that explains “social media platform policies in a manner that is clearly, concisely, prominently, and understandably written using language suited to the age of users who are younger than 18 years of age likely to routinely access the platform without unrelated, confusing, or contradictory materials.”

These include making sure the users know whether or not their personal information is being collected or sold by the platform and if they will be protected from any bullying or videos of violence and self-harm.

Those users under 18 will also be required to read and accept a disclaimer upon log-in that states the following:

“This application may be harmful to your mental health and may use design features that have addictive qualities or present unverified information, or that may be manipulated by [insert platform name] or others for your viewing. This application may also collect your personal data to further manipulate your viewable content and may share your personal data with others.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke on the subject during a press conference in Kissimmee on Jan. 26, and suggested that it is possible the bill won’t get passed as it currently stands.

“I do think it’s a problem,” he said. “I think social media has been a net negative for our youth, without question. Now, having said that, there have been other states that have tried to do similar things that have met resistance in the courts. And not to say courts are always right about this, but I—anything I do, I want a pathway for this to actually stick, so we’re going to look through that.”

He shared his concerns with social media and devices like smartphones in general for his own kids and said he was sympathetic to parents who want their kids to grow up in the healthiest environment. But he also said he understood the legal issues some parents might take if their 15-year-old suddenly got cut off, and told the Speaker of the House he would work on it with him.

“This is something that’s likely going to evolve as it gets through the house and makes its way through the Senate, and we’ll see if we get a product that is going to be something that’s good,” he said. “But I am concerned about the breadth of it. And I want to empower parents. I want to give parents tools to be able to do this. And so I just think you got to be smart about how you do it.”

No specific social media companies were named in the legislation, and it does not seek to implement these access restrictions on email, online gaming, online shopping, and other applications based on an “exclusive function” such as distributing news, sports, entertainment, and professional networking and development groups and services.