The Florida House requiring social media companies to ban accounts belonging to kids under 16. A similar bill is
Tech companies say the measure is unconstitutional, and Gov. Ron DeSantis has
Rep. Tyler Sirois, the House bill鈥檚 co-sponsor, and Aaron Mackey with the Electronic Frontier Foundation spoke about the measure Friday with Tom Hudson on The Florida Roundup.
Sirois explained why he believes his bill doesn鈥檛 violate First Amendment rights.
鈥淭his bill is not about the content that is on these platforms. This bill is based on addictive features, the things that are intentionally designed to produce basically a dopamine hit in our kids,鈥� Sirois said. Some examples he gave of addictive features include auto scroll, autoplay and push notifications.
鈥淭here are things that are being designed and intentionally deployed to modify the way that our kids behave, to take advantage of child development and capturing their and holding their attention.鈥�
Mackey, however, disagreed with Sirois鈥� point about the bill鈥檚 constitutionality.
鈥淭hat's like saying a bill that bans access to movie theaters for anyone under 16 or bans access to bookstores for anyone under 16 is not about the content of the movies or the books. This is fundamentally about the content, and those facial designs of the law, courts will easily see past that,鈥� Mackey said.
He also spoke on the cultural consequences of banning kids from social platforms.
鈥溾�� fundamentally, what this does is it deprives children of access to probably the most diverse platform for users to engage in speech and to learn about the world around us,鈥� Mackey said.
Sirois said his measure isn鈥檛 about whether social media is good or bad, but protecting kids from harm.
鈥淲e're seeing soaring suicide rates, we're seeing increased incidence of self-harm, hospital admissions for self-harm are increasing. And we understand, based on testimony that we received here in Tallahassee, that on our present course, it's going to be normal for American girls to suffer from depression," Sirois explained. "So that is something that I find alarming, and it doesn't have to be that way. And all of the data that we have points to social media as being a main contributor.鈥�
Opting out of features on social platforms, Sirois added, wouldn鈥檛 be enough either. He pointed to parents who aren鈥檛 tech-savvy and young children who don鈥檛 understand how their personal data will be used.
鈥淪o I think that what we're doing here is recognizing that the magnitude of this problem, and the harm that these platforms are doing to our youth, is simply beyond a lot of parents鈥� ability, a lot of families鈥� ability to be able to step in and handle it,鈥� Sirois said.
If the House bill becomes law, Florida鈥檚 attorney general would be empowered to 鈥減ursue unfair and deceptive trade practices against companies that are violating the law,鈥� according to Sirois. Parents could sue a social media platform if it unlawfully enrolls a minor.
The bill would also require platforms to verify someone鈥檚 age using personal information like a driver鈥檚 license or birth certificate. Mackey said all users would have to undergo the same process.
鈥淪o it affects not just children, but all adults, and the Supreme Court and federal courts across the country have routinely held that this type of scheme that requires everyone to pass through an age verification gate is unconstitutional, because you can't put those types of restrictions on adults and children's ability to access the internet,鈥� Mackey said.
He noted other ways Florida can protect children without, as he said, violating the First Amendment, like implementing third-party software for parents to filter and monitor their kids鈥� devices.
鈥溾�� there are legitimate concerns here and people, children are being harmed,鈥� Mackey added. 鈥淭he question is, is this going to actually help them? And will it actually be enforced?鈥�
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