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Amid a debate about the role of government and parental rights, the Florida Senate on Thursday passed a bill that seeks to keep children under the age of 16 off social media platforms.
The Senate voted 23 to 14 to approve the bill, which includes preventing children under 16 from creating accounts on at least some social media platforms.
While many major issues in the Republican-controlled Legislature are decided along party lines, the bill drew Republican and Democratic support — and Republican and Democratic opposition.
Supporters, including bill sponsor Erin Grall, feel social media harms children’s mental health and exposes them to sexual predators.
“We’re talking about businesses that are using addictive features to engage in mass manipulation of our children, to cause them harm.”
But opponents describe the bill as government overreach. State Senator Shevrin Jones says parents should make decisions about whether children use social media.
“Social media has become a harm to not just children, but to adults also. But it is not the legislature’s job to parent the parents on how to parent.”
Opponents also argue that courts could rule that the bill is unconstitutional, as judges have blocked similar laws in other states.
Along with preventing children under 16 from creating accounts on at least some social media platforms, the bill would require platforms to terminate existing accounts that they know or have “reason to believe” are held by minors younger than 16 and allow parents to request that minors’ accounts be terminated.
Also, it would require platforms to use age verification before accounts are created, with the verifications also affecting adults.
The House passed the bill last month but will have to take another vote because of changes made in the Senate.