Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Monday signed a bill aimed at addressing growing concerns about minors and the addictive effects of social media on them.
The bill, HB 3, outlines online protections for minors on social media platforms, including requiring some companies to “prohibit certain minors from creating new accounts” and requiring “social media platforms to “require that we terminate certain accounts and provide you with additional options for terminating such accounts.”to summary of the bill.
The bill also provides “conditions requiring social media platforms to prohibit certain minors from entering into agreements to become account holders.” This means that a 14-year-old and her 15-year-old minor cannot create an account on the app without parental consent.
according to According to Florida’s Voice, “This bill requires appropriate age verification measures for Internet sites that include:” [sic] Obscene or “harmful” content, unsuitable for minors. ”
#breaking news: Gov. Ron DeSantis bans minors under 14 from using “addictive” social media, requires parental consent for 14- and 15-year-olds, and restricts access to “harmful” content such as pornography. He has signed a bill requiring adult age verification for sites containing
— Florida Voices (@FLVoiceNews) March 25, 2024
Simply put, DeSantis said there are real “dangers” to children on social media and pointed to the dangers of predators who easily prey on children online.
“Right now, thanks to things like social media, you can put your child in a house that looks safe, but there could be predators out there that could get into your home.” he explained.
“You may be doing everything right, but they know how to get these different platforms and manipulate them. And that’s what created the big problem,” said Florida House Speaker. He continued before introducing Paul Renner (Republican).
Mr. Lerner said in part:
If you had asked me a year ago, I would have said, kids use social media too much, but what’s the big deal, and I wasn’t one of those people who really sat on the sidelines. Sho. But knowing what I know now, none of us can afford to be bystanders when it comes to social media and when it comes to the hardcore pornography our children are exposed to. So what do we know?
“We know from law enforcement and we know from prosecutors that social media is a major platform for child trafficking, where pedophiles… pretend to be children and traffic them. “And more crimes against children occur on these platforms than in other venues.” We know that,” he said, adding that social media is destroying children’s mental health.
Ultimately, the focus is primarily on addiction and “the addictive features that are central to why kids continue to spend hours on these platforms,” Renner said.
“Our bill focuses on addiction, but if you think about it, we are not prepared to deal with the addictions that some of us as adults have faced and had to walk away from. …Children, whose brains are still developing, don’t have the ability to recognize when they’re being drawn into these addictive technologies, or to recognize the harm and walk away from them.” he said, explaining why they should step in.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis signs HB3 to protect children from social media harm https://t.co/9nylhaOIXI
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) March 25, 2024
“How would it sound if I said that a company is taking children and trying to exploit an addiction that harms them for profit? That sounds like human trafficking to me,” Renner said. he said, describing this as “digital human trafficking.”
“But you know what? We’re going to beat them. We’re going to beat them and we’re never going to stop,” he added.
