The bill is expected to face legal challenges.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill on Monday that will prohibit children younger than 14 from joining social media in the state. Those who are 14 or 15 will need a parent’s consent before they join a platform.

The bill, HB3, also directs social media companies to delete the existing accounts of those who are under 14. Companies that fail to do so could be sued on behalf of the child who creates an account on the platform. The minor could be awarded up to $10,000 in damages, according to the bill. Companies found to be in violation of the law would also be liable for up to $50,000 per violation, as well as attorney’s fees and court costs.

“Ultimately, [we’re] trying to help parents navigate this very difficult terrain that we have now with raising kids, and so I appreciate the work that’s been put in,” DeSantis said in remarks during the bill-signing ceremony.

  • Uranium3006
    52•9 months ago

    Think hard about why a fascist would want to keep teenagers from accessing information

    • Maeve
      31•9 months ago

      That and he’s taking away any social support for kids that may not have any irl.

      • @WhatAmLemmy
        32•9 months ago

        Ohhhhh. I was wondering why fascists would care about this. Preventing LGBTQ+ kids from accessing support structures sounds like a bingo.

        • Maeve
          10•9 months ago

          We’ll the main thing is to keep them ignorant, so he’s killing one bird with two stones.

      • Uranium3006
        2•9 months ago

        They want gay kids to kill themselves. They’re bad people and we need to stop pretending otherwise

    • Ogmios
      24•9 months ago

      How does not having a social media account keep people away from information? You can browse most social media sites without an account, and most actual information is hosted on other sites anyways.

      • @WhatAmLemmy
        17•9 months ago

        I don’t have social media and most links to Facebook, Twitter… MANY sites… redirect straight to a login page.

        Your DGAF always-logged-in xp is not indicative of the population who don’t use those services…

        • Ogmios
          2•9 months ago

          Some sites are like that, sure ( I also don’t have accounts on any of those though), but once again, social media sites rarely host actual information itself. Certainly not important information at least.

    • @[email protected]
      5•9 months ago

      How will they enforce this. By asking for ID. So YOU and ME can be tracked and harassed for being different than them.

    • @IsThisAnAI
      -12•9 months ago

      You mean like everyone voting to ban tiktok?