Florida has moved toward enacting one of the strictest bans on children’s use of social media in the United States, sending to the governor a bill to keep those under 16 off such platforms.
The controversial legislation aims to protect children’s mental health from the perceived harms of social media, including addictive features, online dangers like sexual predators, cyberbullying, and teen suicide. The bill, clearing the state Senate 23-14 and returning to the House where it passed overwhelmingly, 108-7, now awaits Governor Ron DeSantis’s signature.
While the bill’s sponsor, Republican Erin Grall, argues that social media platforms use addictive features to engage in mass manipulation of our children to cause them harm, Governor DeSantis has expressed concerns about parental rights, indicating parents should have the right to opt in. Nonetheless, he has shown sympathy toward fears over social media’s impact on children.
If signed into law, the regulation would require platforms to block Florida children under 16 from creating new accounts and potentially close existing ones. However, critics raise First Amendment concerns about free speech, arguing that such a law may violate constitutional rights.
While most social media networks already set a minimum age of 13 to open an account, enforcement is often lax. Past efforts in other states to regulate children’s social media use have faced legal challenges, including a blocked Arkansas initiative last year requiring parental consent for account creation.
As Florida moves closer to implementing this ban, the debate on protecting children from social media’s potential harms continues, reflecting broader concerns about parental control, online safety, and free speech in the digital age.
