Opponents, including social media giants like Meta, have argued the bill is a violation of free speech rights.
The House and Senate this week both passed a revamped version of the legislation restricting access to social media for minors that – in a notable change – gives parents the power to allow their kids to access the platforms. | Manan Vatsyayana/AFP via Getty Images
TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Florida lawmakers have hit refresh on their proposal to kick minors off social media after it was struck down by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The House and Senate this week both passed a revamped version of the legislation restricting access to social media for minors that — in a notable change — gives parents the power to allow their kids to access the platforms. The Legislature backed a new age limit of 14 years old for opening accounts among several other tweaks introduced to help the bill survive possible legal challenges and score the support from the Republican governor.
Senators passed the bill 30-5 on Monday, followed by a 109-4 vote in the House Wednesday that sends the legislation, a top 2024 priority of Speaker Paul Renner, to the governor for a second go-round.
“We’re not opening a Pandora’s box, we’re closing one,” said state Rep. Tyler Sirois, a Merritt Island Republican who co-sponsored the legislation. “For our children, social media is no town square — it is a dark alley.”
“These companies know what they are doing is wrong. They have not acted — we will,” he said.
Under the new-look bill, many social media platforms would be prohibited from allowing children younger than 14 from having an account compared with 16 in the original proposal. Parents, though, can grant 14- and 15-year-olds consent to use the applications in a notable revision spurred by the governor’s objections.
The updated legislation includes a provision that would scrap the parental opt-in for social media if a court determines that the platforms pose a harm to minors. In another change, lawmakers removed a provision explicitly detailing how social media platforms must verify the age of users, leaving it up to the companies how to meet the requirements.
DeSantis last week vetoed the Legislature’s initial attempt to pass the strictest social media prohibitions in the country after expressing reservations over the measure excluding parents from the process and adults losing anonymity online. Other states, including Utah and Ohio, have passed similar legislation with a parent approval provision.
Lawmakers, led by Renner, at first rejected the idea of idea of granting parents a way to give their kids access to social media when crafting the original bill, even when it was proposed as an amendment by a Democrat. They maintain the change was not a “capitulation” to the governor, but that the legislation is a “product of compromise” that was revisited to ultimately “capture broader public support” and have a better chance of surviving possible legal challenges.
“For our children, social media is no town square — it is a dark alley.”
State Rep. Tyler Sirois
“We’re not walking away from the fact that there are harms associated with these platforms that are significant and that are at their highest from the ages of really 8, which is incredible, to 16,” Sen. Erin Grall, the Vero Beach Republican carrying the legislation, said on the floor Monday. “Allowing a parental consent component of this bill and bringing it before you does not negate the harms that have been laid about what these platforms are doing to all of our children.”
Florida’s social media bill also targets the ability of minors to access online adult content by requiring websites that publish materials “harmful to minors” to take steps to verify age to prevent anyone younger than 18 from accessing them, a policy expected to face blowback, especially from the pornography industry.
Republican leaders and Democrats supporting the legislation say the restrictions are meant to curb serious issues plaguing children across the state, including cases of bullying, depression, social pressure and even suicide tied to accessing social media. They contend its passage could protect kids from human trafficking, potential abuse and other dangers facing them online.
Opponents including social media giants like Meta and several Democrats and Republicans, have argued the bill is a violation free speech rights that breaks from Florida’s long-standing position of giving parents more power in the upbringing of their children.
“Taking away a parent’s opportunity to make those decisions is something the Legislature should not be getting involved with,” said state Rep. Anna Eskamani, an Orlando Democrat who opposed the legislation.
One vocal critic of Florida’s legislation, NetChoice, a trade group associated with Meta, TikTok and X, claims that even the new-look proposal is ripe with “constitutional defects” that could be struck down in court. Namely, the group, representing Big Tech companies with a stake in users losing access in social media, claims the bill would violate the First Amendment rights of minors through a blanket restriction, noting that similar laws in Arkansas, California, and Ohio are currently blocked from taking hold.
“We share the sponsor’s goal to better protect minors from harmful content online, but an unconstitutional law helps no one,” Carl Szabo, vice president and general counsel for NetChoice said in a memo opposing HB 3.
Florida leaders, though, remain optimistic that their bill will survive a legal challenge and are taking head-on the possibility of a court battle.
“Florida’s kids do not belong to Net Choice and their Big Tech cronies,” Renner posted on social media Wednesday. “Bring it!”
Source: Politico
