The revised social media bill cleared the Florida Senate by a 30-5 vote. It lowers the minimum age to 14 for kids and teens to own a social media account.
The changes were made Monday morning after Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed the original proposal (HB 1) that called for tech companies to ban users under 16. That piece of legislation came with no parental say so, however Senator Erin Grall, R-Fort Pierce, said Monday the new bill (HB 3) now lets parents be involved.
“We don't want the parental consent provision to be too onerous in order to let the policy move forward,” she said during the Senate Session.
The amendment allows for 14 and 15 year-olds to create and maintain social media accounts, as long as a parent or guardian says it's ok. HB 3 also gives tech companies options to use “standard or anonymous” age verification methods. Grall said this will ensure Floridians don't have to give up personal identifying information.
“We are trying to give the platforms the most flexibility possible in order to meet the parameters of the bill.”
Not everyone likes the new language
Sen. Bobby Powell, D-West Palm Beach believes this measure is just as bad as the first. Before the bill’s passage, he told lawmakers that parents should have the opportunity to decide what’s best for their child, regardless of age.
“Sometimes I think we start passing legislation that we believe is well intentioned," said Powell. It really starts to become invasive into a person’s household in terms of what they need to be doing.”
And Sen. Tina Polsky of Boca Raton said the state will run into legal problems because of it.
“For the government to come in and say nope, we’ve decided the age is 14, I still think it runs into all the constitutional problems we've discussed," said Sen. Polsky.
Other state’s efforts to regulate social media have not been successful in federal court and several groups along with the social media companies themselves, are likely to sue. The Senate's newly revised bill is headed to the Florida House to receive final approval.