Florida Law Limiting Social Media Access for Younger Teens Takes Effect

U Children’s Online Privacy Protection Actwhich went into effect in 2000, set the minimum age for social media users in the United States at 13.

Lawmakers in Florida want teens to wait a little longer.

House bill 3which was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in March, goes into effect early in the new year. But social media platforms are not required to start applying immediately, as a preliminary ruling from the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida in Tallahassee on a challenge to the law is not expected until February .

The bill requires platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to terminate the accounts of users under the age of 16, and establishes that teenagers must be 16 years old to create an account on these platforms by themselves. Those between the ages of 14 and 15 may do so with permission and the supervision of a parent or guardian.

HB3 covers platforms with addictive features, which lawmakers described as:

• Infinite scrolling, meaning content that loads continuously or as the user scrolls down the page, without the need to open a separate page.
• Seamless content, meaning pages with no visible or apparent breaks or ends.
• Push notifications that alert users about specific activities or events related to their account.
• Personal interactive meters that tell users the number of times other users have clicked a button on the application to react to their content, or republish or share that content.
• It automatically plays videos that launch without a user having to click a play button.
• Livestreaming or similar features that allow advertisers or users to broadcast live video in real time.

If the court challenge is denied and enforcement begins, social media companies face potential fines of up to $50,000 per violation.

Industry groups Computer and Communications Industry Association and NetChoice they referred to HB3, depositing a process in October in which they said: “In a nation that values ​​the First Amendment, the preferred response is to let parents decide what speech and media their minor children can access – including using the many tools available to monitor and their activity on the Internet.”

“The way this bill is structured, it is not committed to any regulation of speech,” DeSantis said in a statement. “It’s basically identifying the features that cause harm: the addictive features.”