The law is designed to protect children from harms associated with social media use, but commentators point out there are no apparent reliable enforcement methods.
(LifeSiteNews) — A Florida law banning children under the age of 14 from using social media went into effect on Wednesday.
HB3, signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in March, requires parental permission for 14- and 15-year-olds to use social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. The law targets social media sites with “addictive features” such as “infinite scrolling” and video auto-play.
The law also requires age verification – either “anonymous” or “standard” – on sites with material deemed “harmful to minors,” such as pornographic websites, requiring at least 18 years of age for access.
Critics have denounced the law as a civil rights violation, and responses from parents are reportedly mixed. Florida parents casually surveyed on the ground by WCTV largely supported the measure, and Fox News reported that the “vast majority” of parents polled in Florida would rather enforce their children’s social media use themselves.
Benny Bolden Jr., a Tallahassee father of three, was one of almost a dozen parents who told WCTV on Wednesday that they generally support the law.
“While social media can be very positive, it can be very dangerous,” Bolden said.
Social media use is shown to be linked to psychological and physical issues in children and is fraught with hard-to-regulate pornographic content. It is also used by predators to target children for grooming and exploitation.
A 2023 Gallup poll found that children ages 13 and 14 spend an average of over four hours a day on social media platforms. According to a 2024 Pew Research Center study, 87 percent of children of this age range spend time on YouTube, 55 percent use TikTok, 44 percent use Snapchat, and 43 percent use Instagram.
Commentators have observed that the law is difficult to enforce. Before the bill became law, legislators said enforcement would be left to social media companies. Their own attempts to regulate social media use would likely be easy for children to bypass.
Former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner denounced social media as a “dark alley … where predators target them and dangerous social media leads to higher rates of depression, self-harm, and even suicide,” a statement supported by social science research.
For example, a 2022 paper in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health identified “depression” and “psychological problems” as problems plaguing minors using social media.
“Other identified associated problems were sleep, addiction, anxiety, sex-related issues, behavioral problems, body image, physical activity, online grooming, sight, headache, and dental caries,” the researchers wrote.
A 2021 paper in the same journal identified “insomnia,” “low academic outcomes” and “mood disturbances” as some of the harms of social media and smartphone use by teens.
However, some groups have raised privacy and speech concerns about different aspects of the bill.
“By banning social media accounts for users under 13, or under 16 without parental consent, the bill requires both teens and parents to reveal their identities to verify their relationship and the parent’s consent,” the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression wrote in its analysis. “In doing so, the provision eliminates anonymity for everyone – adults and minors.”
