On Jan. 24, House Bill 1 was passed in the Florida House of Representatives by a staggering vote of 106 to 13.
This bill aims to completely ban children under the age of 16 from using social media apps. If signed in as a law, it would take effect on July 1 and would force any current social media
account belonging to a person under the age of 16 to be deleted, along with the social media site being forced to use “reasonable age verification methods” for someone to make an account.

The bill does not list specific social media apps that it targets, instead claims its target is any
social media site that allows children to upload material and interact with others, tracks user
activity, and uses addictive features designed to cause excessive or compulsive use. The bill is
not supposed to affect apps used mostly for private messaging.

I believe that the bill is too broad to go into effect. Using general descriptions and vague
language in the determination of what constitutes a social media site could have a wide range of consequences. Even just the wording of “addicting features” gives the bill too many sites that it could claim a social media site to limit younger children’s access.

U.S. News reports that Rep. Anna Eskamani thinks the same about the broadness of the bill. “I think the intention of those who have filed [the bill] isn’t golden. We have a concern about the impact of social media on our young people, I just find the solution that you propose too broad and casts a wide net with unintended consequences.”

I also think that the intent of the bill is good. Social media at any age can be devastating for
mental health, and children mustn’t be exposed to it at young ages because of the addictive
nature of it. However, social media can be used as a tool to gain information or socialize with
people, and drawing the line at an age where social media becomes more helpful than harmful is difficult.

Removing all social media from children’s lives is not the way to go about fixing the mental
health issues it has brought about. Social media is a great way for kids to make new friends and be able to talk to people. There are many ways that social media can be made to be less harmful, and although it would be harder than simply banning all social media for young children, I believe it would be much better to try and either change social media sites or give parents an easier way to monitor what their child looks at.

Florida Politics has reported that Ron DeSantis said he won’t be supporting the bill, which I think is a good sign that the bill won’t become law. “I think that I’m not going to be supporting if I don’t think it’s going to be something that’s
going to pass legal muster in the courts.”