Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed strong restrictions, mirroring a national push to crack down on minors’ access to online platforms over safety fears.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis answers questions from the media, March 7, 2023, at the state Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla.
Major social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, require users to be at least 13 — a requirement that stems from the 1998 “Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule,” which banned the collection of children’s personal data without parental consent. However, a survey published in 2022 by the nonprofit research organization Common Sense Media found an upswing in usage among children ages 8 to 12.
According to a tally by the National Conference of State Legislatures, more than 140 bills on the issue are pending this year across 30 states. Last year, 13 states passed 23 new laws on child safety — which included imposing verification requirements, granting greater parental oversight and limiting children’s social media usage, according to a report by the University of North Carolina’s Center on Technology Policy.
“HB 3 forces Floridians to hand over sensitive personal information to websites or lose their access to critical information channels,” NetChoice Vice President and general counsel Carl Szabo said in a statement Monday after DeSantis signed it into law. “This infringes on Floridians’ First Amendment rights to share and access speech online.”
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