Florida social media bill signed into law, legal challenges lie ahead

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)–Before long, Florida will have one of the most restrictive social media bans for minors in the nation.

“I feel like it isn’t the government’s place to raise my kids, it’s my responsibility,” said father of three, Fabian Meza.

The controversial bill was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis. It bans children 13 and under from having any social media accounts. It also requires 14- and 15-year-old children to get parental permission before creating an account.

The idea is to protect kids and their mental health.

That’s something Stetson University psychology professor Christopher Ferguson doesn’t agree with.

“There’s no evidence that this kind of censorship effort involving teenagers is going to improve their health in any way,” he explained.

Nevertheless, the bill is set to go into effect in January.

But even though DeSantis signed it into law, the fight probably won’t be over.

Florida House Speaker Paul Renner said he’s expecting a barrage of lawsuits from big tech companies, challenging the law.

“The people who have the most to lose who are making billions off of surveilling our kids, collecting info on them and keeping them online through this addictive technology are going to push back saying it violates the first amendment,” he explained.

8 On Your Side reporter Nicole Rogers asked, “Do you think this new law will be able to withstand the legal challenges ahead?”

“I do, because we have not covered content at all,” Renner responded. “We don’t say this speech is good and that speech is bad.”

“That’s protected by the first amendment, something I believe strongly in,” he continued.

A group called NetChoice, represents a coalition of social media companies and internet platforms, including TikTok and Meta.

They filed a lawsuit against the state of Florida in 2021 after Senate bill 7072 was signed.

The group also filed similar lawsuits in California, Arkansas, and Utah.

NetChoice’s director of state and federal affairs wouldn’t confirm whether they plan to sue over this new law, but says they’ve made their stance clear to the state of Florida.

“House Bill 3 forces Floridians to hand over sensitive personal information to websites or lose access to critical information channels and we believe that that is a clear violation of Floridians first amendment rights to access speech,” Amy Bos explained.

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