WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Banning minors from having social media accounts in Florida may be hitting a snag after Gov. Ron DeSantis said he has concerns about the measure.
It passed the Florida House and is now on to the Senate. But there is likely a lot more work to do to find common ground on the issue.
WPTV has heard from cyber security experts thatenforcing a social media ban for those under 16 would likely be very difficult to manage from a technical aspect.
Now more people, including the governor, are saying this bill as proposed may go too far.
"Young people are scared of what's happening in their state. I think they are more aware than ever of what's happening in their state because it is affecting their daily lives," said Maxx Fenning, the executive director of PRISM, a LGBTQ+ organization for young people in South Florida.
Fenning has his eye on a number of bills this legislative session. HB 1 restricting social media use for minors is one of them.
"Young people turn to the Internet to learn about their community, to be able to see people like them. So we're especially concerned about further restrictions being placed in that regard," Fenning said.
The bill bans those under 16 from having or creating social media accounts. It doesn't single out any specific platform, just the addictive qualities that would make it off limits.
Those platforms would be required to use "reasonable age verification methods to confirm the age of the account holder," as well as terminate the accounts of those under 16.
"Anything that I do, I want a pathway for this to actually stick. So we're going to look through that," DeSantis said on Jan. 26.
DeSantis said the bill as written could create legal issues, though he supports the underlying goal of managing kids and social media use.
"I am concerned about the breadth of it. I want to empower parents. I want to give parents tools to be able to do this. But I think you gotta be smart about how you do it," DeSantis said.
Democratic State Rep. Anna Eskamani didn't vote for the bill and expects to see some changes in the Senate.
"I suspect there will be another round of negotiations," Eskamani said. "I think we will see this bill again in the Florida House. I don't think it will be the only time we debate it."
The bill is now in the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee.
