The Republican-controlled legislature of US State Florida has enacted legislation that, according to advocates, will shield children from online hazards to their mental health by prohibiting anyone under the age of 16 from using social media.
Republican-controlled legislature
After being approved by lawmakers on Thursday, the bill now head to Republican Governor Ron DeSantis’ desk.
It would force social media companies to delete the accounts of anyone under 16 and employ a third-party verification process to filter out minors.
DeSantis informed reporters on Friday that he had not yet read the bill’s final draft, despite voicing concerns about the bill’s possible violation of individuals’ right to privacy last month.
Social media is bad for kids, but parents “could supervise,” according to DeSantis, who expressed concern about a policy that would “overrule” parents.
“I think you’ve got to strike that proper balance when you’re looking at these things,” DeSantis said.
Only hours after receiving final approval from the state Senate, the proposal was approved by the Florida House of Representatives by a vote of 108-7.
The act, according to its supporters, would stop the negative effects that social media has on children’s wellbeing.
Florida House of Representatives
Children who use these platforms excessively run the risk of developing anxiety, depression, and other mental diseases.
Opponents claim that the bill goes against the First Amendment’s guarantees of free expression in the United States Constitution and that parents, not the government, should be in charge of deciding what their children post online.
Law challenged by Meta
The law has been challenged by Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, on the grounds that it would restrict parental discretion and create privacy issues due to the personal information users would need to supply in order to verify their age.
Meta has stated that it is in favour of federal legislation requiring online app stores to obtain parental consent before allowing downloading by minors.
The bill identifies its targets as social media platforms that encourage “infinite scrolling,” show reaction metrics like likes, offer auto-play videos, allow live broadcasting, and provide push alerts.
It does not name any specific social media networks. Websites and applications that are primarily used for email, messaging, or texting between a specific sender and receiver would be excluded.
Legislators created the bill, according to Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, to allay any worries about potential invasions of privacy.
“We’ve addressed constitutional concerns by narrowly focusing the scope of the bill on the addictive features, added enhanced anonymity provisions to the age verification process to protect user data, and incorporated meaningful penalties to hold Big Tech accountable,”
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