TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A bill that would restrict Florida teens from using social media appeared headed for passage in the Florida House after a second reading of the bill on Tuesday.
HB 1 is set for a final vote before the full State House Wednesday afternoon.
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The bill would ban Florida teens under 16 from having accounts on social media websites. Accounts already made on social media sites would have to be terminated.
The bill does not name specific social media platforms, but defines them as doing all of the following:
- Tracks the activity of the account holder
- Allows the account holder to upload content or view the content or activity of other account holders
- Allows an account holder to interact with or track other account holders
- Utilizes addictive, harmful, or deceptive design features, or any feature that is designed to cause an account holder to have an excessive or compulsive need to use or engage with the social media platform.
- Allows the utilization of information derived from the social media platform’s tracking of the activity of an account holder to control or target at least part of the content offered to the account holder
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The bill’s primary sponsor, State Rep. Tyler Sirois, R-Merritt Island, added the features category to the bill Tuesday, saying he was concerned about things like infinite scrolling and autoplay.
Democrats tried to add two amendments to the bill, one to allow parents to give minors permission to use social media, and another to lower the age of the bill to 13 instead of 16. The amendments failed, largely on party lines.
A similar bill, HB 3, would require websites that publish or distribute material considered harmful to minors to provide more comprehensive age verification software, is also headed for final passage in the Florida House Wednesday. The age verification system must be conducted by an independent third party not affiliated with the site’s parent company or the government.
Both bills are priorities for House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast.
Companion bills in the Florida Senate have yet to be heard.
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