Florida's new bill aims to ban kids under 16 years old from using Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other popular social media platforms.
To make matters more serious, Floridian officials said that children below the mentioned age group can't use online platforms even if they have parental approval.
In this photo illustration, a person looks at a smartphone with a Facebook App logo displayed on the background, on August 17, 2021, in Arlington, Virginia.
Republican Rep. Tyler Sirois sponsored the new House Bill 1 and on Wednesday, Jan. 24, the legislation passed with a 106-13 bipartisan vote.
Although it still has pending approval from the Florida Senate, experts said that it could lead to some of the strictest social media prohibitions in the U.S.
Florida's New Bill Bans Kids Under 16 From Using Social Media
According to Fox News' latest report, House Bill 1 is supported by many Floridian citizens, who argue that young users are getting more exposed to sexual predators, bullying, and other harmful activities on social media platforms.
They added that if children experience these, they could have depression, addiction, or even lead to suicide.
"They're taking advantage of kids growing up. That's their business model," explained Sirois.
"And why do they do it? To keep them hooked ... with the dopamine hits that the platform gives our children with every autoplay, with every like, with every push notification," added the American official.
Although the new House Bill 1 didn't mention specific names of social media sites, the legislation targets online platforms that track allow people to upload material, interact with other individuals, and track user activities.
Aside from these, social media platforms that allegedly integrate "addictive features" are also included. Those that are designed specifically for private messages, such as WhatsApp, Telegram, and other messaging applications, will not be affected.
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What New Florida Bill Aims To Do
This photo illustration taken on March 22, 2018, shows a woman looking at Social Networking applications Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Whatsapp, Twitter, Messenger, and Linkedin on a smartphone in Kuala Lumpur.
Politico reported that the new House Bill 1 aims to prevent children under 16 years old from creating social media accounts. This means that Facebook and other popular online sites will be required to make efforts to make this happen.
Social media platforms will also be mandated to use a third party for age verification services. Another goal of Florida's new legislation is to require social media giants to delete accounts of kids below 16 years old in the state.
In the bill, it was stated that websites used for messaging, texts, email, streaming, news, sports or entertainment, online shopping, and gaming are not included.
As of press time, the new House Bill 1 is still confusing for many people and social media companies since it doesn't specify which platforms will be impacted.
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