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TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Legislature passed new restrictions on social media for children Wednesday, likely leading to a court challenge after approval by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Under House Bill 3, Florida children Those under 13 will be prohibited from creating accounts on certain social media platforms, and 14 and 15-year-olds will need parental permission.
Children under the age of 18 will also be prohibited from accessing adult websites. To access adult sites, everyone will have to prove their age through facial scans, ID or other means, and this provision is also likely to be challenged in court.
The bill passed with bipartisan support, 30-5 in the Senate and 109-4 in the House.
This bill currently Governor’s desk. On Friday, he vetoed something similar. Partly stricter laws This was because they feared that their parental rights had been taken away.
House Speaker Paul Renner (R-Palm Coast) said he expects the governor to sign the latest bill after a week of negotiations with him.
With DeSantis’ signature, Florida joins several other states that have passed bans on children’s social media access amid rising rates of suicide and depression among teens.
“We cannot stand by any longer and allow these companies to own our children with this egregious content,” Sen. Erin Goulart, R-Fort Pierce, said Monday.
The bill goes into effect on July 1 and prohibits children under the age of 13 from creating or maintaining accounts on social media platforms with “addictive features” such as push notifications or video autoplay. prohibited.
Children aged 14 or 15 must have parental permission to create an account. It’s not clear how social media platforms will adopt methods of giving parents such permission.
The previous law included a blanket ban on anyone under 15, which upset parental rights advocates allied with DeSantis.
Like other states, Florida is expected to face lawsuits from social media companies to block the bill from taking effect. Federal judges in Ohio, Arkansas, and California have all issued injunctions against those states’ laws.
A federal judge in Arkansas called for this. The state’s bill is a “stunningly blunt measure to reduce the harms of social media on children.” The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the government can block access to content to children “only in relatively limited and well-defined circumstances.”
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Tyler Sirois (R-Merritt Island), said he declined to answer questions about why lawmakers didn’t take a more limited approach beyond a complete ban.
“This bill is not about speech. It’s not the content that matters,” he said.
He added: “If this is the new City Hall, God help us.”
Carla Boender, state policy director for the Computer and Communications Industry Association, called on lawmakers to vote against the bill this week.
Boender said in a statement: “The proposed bill remains problematic and would create significant barriers for young users to access online information that all Americans, including minors, have a right to see. It violates the First Amendment rights of individuals.”
desantis previously raised concerns As for the question of constitutionality, he said he wants a bill that “actually takes hold” in January.
To allay his concerns, lawmakers removed a provision requiring strict age verification from social media companies. The provision could have required all Floridians to show identification to prove their age online.
Federal courts have ruled against age verification requirements online because, as one judge said in 2008, it would force users to “give up their anonymity to access protected audio.” refused efforts to impose it.
HB 3 would instead require social media companies to automatically delete accounts they classify as belonging to someone under 14. People under the age of 14 will not be able to create an account.
Many social media platforms, such as Instagram and TikTok, require users to be at least 13 years old to use an account. However, Instagram withdrew its plans to launch Instagram Kids following public backlash. TikTok has a platform for younger users with added safety and privacy restrictions.
Lawmakers have declined to say which platforms would be covered by the bill.
The law still requires adult websites to implement strict age verification requirements. The Site requires the use of third-party services that keep your information anonymous.
Mr. Renner said last week that he was “inviting” legal challenges to the provision.
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