Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a bill that aims to restrict children's access to social media. DeSantis made a statement regarding the law that prohibits children under the age of 14 from opening social media accounts and allows 14-15 year olds to open accounts with the approval of their parents.
Governor DeSantis stated that social media harms children in various ways such as depression, self-harm and suicide. DeSantis said that the law, which aims to prevent children from accessing pornographic websites with age verification, will provide parents with the opportunity to protect their children.
With the bill, children under the age of 14 will be prevented from opening accounts on social media platforms and existing accounts will be deleted. Companies that do not immediately delete accounts belonging to the 14-15 age group can be sued on behalf of these children and may have to pay compensation of up to 10 thousand dollars each.
A "knowing or reckless" violation would also be considered an unfair or deceptive trade practice and could be subject to civil penalties of up to $50,000 per violation.
Opponents argue that Florida's law is unconstitutional, recalling that similar laws have been struck down by courts in other states. The law is expected to take effect on January 1, 2025.
The Florida state House of Representatives passed a bill on January 25 to ban children under the age of 16 from using social media without parental consent, but DeSantis vetoed the bill on the grounds that it violated parental rights.
