JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Children under 14 years old will be banned from having social media accounts in an effort politicians said would save children’s lives. That’s according to the latest revamped bill that Gov. Ron DeSantis signed on Monday.
House Bill 3 would require social media companies to ban accounts belonging to someone under the age of 14 to be on sites like Instagram and TikTok. Kids older than 14 would need a parent’s permission.
DeSantis had vetoed an earlier version of the bill that targeted social media users under 16 and would have banned them regardless of parent consent.
Lawmakers worked with DeSantis to craft legislation that he would approve, which now focuses on children under 14 and keeps parents in the equation.
The bill, in part, would prevent children under 14 from opening accounts. Parents can give consent for 14- and 15-year-olds to have accounts.
DeSantis signed that legislation during a news conference at Cornerstone Classical Academy on St. Johns Bluff Road in Jacksonville.
“You look at young kids and there’s dangers out there. Unfortunately, we’ve got predators. It used to be, ‘Well if they are out somewhere, maybe they are not being supervised, maybe some predator can strike.’ Now, with things like social media, you can have a kid in the house, safe seemingly, and then predators that can get right in there into your home. You can be doing everything right, but they know how to manipulate these different platforms,” DeSantis said.
The bill does not name social media platforms that would be affected. But it includes a definition of such platforms, with criteria related to such things as algorithms, “addictive features” and allowing users to view the content or activities of other users.
The bill would require age verification to try to prevent minors under age 18 from having access to online pornographic sites.
The law will now go into effect on Jan. 1.
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