TAMPA, Fla. — Stand with Parkland, a group for Parkland victims, says it will endorse a bill to ban minors under 16 from many social media sites.
House Bill 1 is Florida House Speaker Paul Renner’s priority this year. He believes the bill addresses a danger that’s developed over the last ten years, citing advisories by the U.S. Surgeon General.
HB1 sets out to ban Floridians 16 and younger from being able to open a social media account. Multiple reports and federal officials have noted concerning trends, warning the sites are having a negative impact on youth.
“As we’ve seen in numerous reports over the years — exposure to screen time and social media platforms has a direct correlation to mental health of students," President of Stand with Parkland Tony Montalto said. "HB-1 is a step in the right direction in protecting children from targeted social media practices. As the country’s leading advocates in school safety — we support efforts that will help alleviate a constant strain on mental health and will benefit future generations.”
The bill doesn't specifically name any social media sites in particular. Instead, it explains social media as:
"An online forum, website, or application offered by an entity that does all of the following:
- Allows the social media platform to track the activity of the account holder.
- Allows an 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 other 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."
A third-party verification system would become another step to signing up for a site that aims to weed out any young people. Existing accounts would also have to be deleted.
It would still allow younger Floridians to access emails, direct messaging, streaming services, news and entertainment sites, online shopping, interactive gaming, photo-editing, neighborhood groups, job-related sites, and video conferencing.
The bill has cleared in the Florida House. The next step is for Florida's Senate to discuss it.
