Florida Governor Ron DeSantis passes the bill to ban children under 14 from social media

 Florida Governor Robert DeSantis recently passed a highly controversial bill regarding the safety of minors on social media and digital media. DeSantis, who has served as Florida Governor for nearly five years now, has expressed his concerns over the dangers of social media, especially those pertaining to minors. 

After much effort and rallying, House Speaker Paul Renner has been successful in passing his bill that will take effect in the state of Florida from January 1st, 2025.

Florida House takes hard step to safeguard minors under 14

The new bill signed by Florida Governor Robert DeSantis prohibits social media accounts for all minors under the age of 14. Children aged 15 and 16-year-olds can only create social media accounts with mandated parental consent.

Attorney General Ashley Moody and House Speaker Paul Renner were some key advocates for the bill, with Speaker Renner claiming that this bill was a top legislative priority for him. These key supporters argued that not only is the bill highly addictive and can have great effects on children's mental health, but it also becomes a platform for sexual offenders to reach children. 

NetChoice, a trade association, highly urged Governor Robert DeSatnis to veto this bill and not let it pass. The group claimed this bill would be against the United States First Amendment rights of free speech. 

The firm's vice-president and legal counsel, Carl Szabo further added that this will would be unconstitutional. Hence, it would not protect the people of Florida in the long run. Additionally, the bill would also require mandatory data collection by online services on all people of Florida. According to Szabo, the private data of Floridans would be at risk of breach. House Speaker Renner retaliated to this statement. He clarified that the bill would in no way pose any restrictions on the content on social media itself. 

Rather, it only talks about the addictive elements of social media. Hence, this would in no way be a violation of the First Amendment. The original bill proposed would have banned minors under 16 years of age from all social media regardless of parental consent. This was also the bill that DeSantis would have vetoed. However, the bill was eventually amended as Governor DeSantis came to an agreement with Renner and an amended bill was sent to the governor before being signed. 

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