Florida lawmakers will be pushing this session to keep children younger than 16 years old off social media.
Bills are being considered in the House and Senate that would require social media companies to verify a user’s age.
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Lawmakers say something needs to be done to combat what they say are social media’s “devastating effects” on children and teens.
Both versions of the bill:
- Would require social media platforms to ban all children under 16 from creating an account
- Would require platforms to use reasonable age verifications to check the ages of the people creating accounts
- Would require accounts be denied if a user does not verify their age
One of the measures (HB 1), sponsored by Rep. Tyler Sirois, R-Merritt Island, and Rep. Fiona McFarland, R-Sarasota, would also require social media platforms to terminate existing accounts that are “reasonably known” by the platforms to be held by minors younger than 16 and would allow parents to request that minors’ accounts be terminated.
The bills were filed late Friday.
Similar efforts made across the country have proven to be complicated and contentious. So, what do you think? Will a law limiting social media for children will make a difference? Share your thoughts below.
Your response could be featured on a Channel 4 newscast.