Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Monday that would ban children under 14 from using social media platforms and require 14- and 15-year-olds to get parental consent, a measure supporters say will protect their mental health from online abuse. risk.

The measure requires social media platforms to terminate the accounts of people under 14 and those under 16 without parental consent. It requires them to use third-party verification systems to screen minors.

The state’s Republican-led Legislature passed a bill in February that would completely ban social media use by children under 16. Republican DeSantis vetoed the bill earlier this month, saying it restricted parents’ rights.

The revised version allows parents to give consent for older children to participate in social media platforms. The bill will become law on July 1.

“Social media harms children in so many ways,” DeSantis said in a statement. The legislation “gives parents greater ability to protect their children,” he said.

Supporters say the legislation will prevent social media from having a harmful impact on the well-being of children who overuse such platforms and may develop anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses as a result.

Critics say the bill violates First Amendment protections of free speech and that parents, not the government, should make decisions about children of all ages’ online presence.

Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, opposed the legislation, saying it would limit parental discretion and raise data privacy concerns because users would have to provide personal information for age verification. Meta said it supports federal legislation for online app stores to ensure parental approval for children’s downloads.

The bill does not mention any specific social media platforms, but states that it targets social media sites that promote “infinite scrolling,” display of reaction metrics such as likes, the ability to autoplay videos, and live streaming and push notifications. It would exempt websites and apps whose primary function is email, messaging or text messaging between specific senders and recipients.

The measure requires social media companies to permanently delete personal information collected from terminated accounts and allows parents to bring civil lawsuits against those who fail to do so.

In March 2023, Utah became the first U.S. state to pass a law regulating children’s use of social media, with others including Arkansas, Louisiana, Ohio and Texas, according to a legislative analysis prepared for the Florida bill. The state follows closely behind. Many other states are considering similar regulations, the analysis said.

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