Florida’s legislative bodies have passed a bill mandating online ID checks and age verification, even though critics say it raises constitutional, that is, First Amendment issues tied primarily to privacy and anonymous speech.
The bill – Online Protections for Minors – was passed late last week with a 108-7 vote in the House after the 23-14 vote in the state Senate. Republicans and Democrats are on both sides of the fence – some supporting and others opposing it.
We obtained a copy of the bill for you here.
Governor Ron DeSantis, meanwhile, was reluctant to endorse the bill ahead of the voting, saying that while social media can cause harm to teenagers, he was concerned about anonymous speech and privacy implications.
He also appears to agree with the bill’s critics who say it’s parents, rather than laws, that should do the job of monitoring how their children use the internet.
Some parents cited by the press also agree with this take on the situation, and bring up the issue of parental rights to regulate children’s online activities.
The bill’s purpose is to force “certain” social media platforms to ban “certain” minors as they attempt to create new accounts, and prevent them from doing so by verifying their age.
The certain platforms in question here are sites that track users, enable minors to upload content and communicate with other users, and have features considered to be “addictive” or resulting in “excessive or compulsive use.”
The bill further mandates the methods of age verification and requires “certain social media platforms to terminate certain accounts and provide additional options for termination of such accounts.”
And it gives the Department of Legal Affairs the authority to “bring actions for knowing or reckless violations under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.”
The bill will become law if signed by DeSantis. Senate Speaker Paul Renner, his fellow Republican, thinks that this will happen because before it was sent to the House, the bill was amended in a way Renner believes resolves the issues the governor has raised.
Those who backed the legislation believe it will help with problems such as alleged rising suicide rates among children, cyberbullying and more.
Opponents, however, think that the bill, described as, at this time, “one of the most restrictive” of its kind in the US, violates the First Amendment.
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