Governor DeSantis signs bill banning children under 14 from using social media

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a bill that may ban children under 14 from having social media accounts. The bill also directs social media platforms to delete the accounts of individuals below the age limit.

HB3, the Protecting Children from Harms from Social Media Act, states that only people over the age of 16 can have unrestricted social media accounts. Teens aged 14 to fifteen will need parental consent to affix popular sites equivalent to TikTok and Instagram.

DeSantis spoke on the bill signing ceremony on March 25, and the footage was posted on Facebook Watch. He noticed upcoming threat online predators as a reason for signing the act.

“I know many parents have concerns about the role the internet and social media play in raising young children,” DeSantis explained. “Now with social media and all this, you can have a child at home, seemingly safe, and then you have predators that can get in there, into your own home.”

Social media corporations are liable if a baby under 14 has an account. If they do not start deleting younger users’ accounts, they might face legal motion on their child’s behalf. The corporations could also face fines of as much as $50,000 per violation and $10,000 in child damages.

However, the bill could face legal opposition as a consequence of claims that it violates the First Amendment. Carl Szabo, vice chairman of NetChoice, called the newly passed law “unconstitutional.”

“We are disappointed that Governor DeSantis signed off on this route,” Szabo he wrote in an email to NBC News. “There are better ways to keep Floridians, their families and their data safe online without infringing on their freedoms.”

However, Florida House Speaker Paul Renner argued that the law was not about speech but more in regards to the harm brought on by children’s unrestricted presence on social media. DeSantis vetoed a tougher version of the bill that will raise the age limit to 16. He reached a compromise with Renner to lower it to 14 years.

HB3 would require age and identity verification to open recent accounts. This can be too mandatory access pornographic web sites, as provided for within the Act. The act is scheduled to enter into force firstly of next yr.