Florida Law Limiting Social Media Access for Younger Teens Takes Effect

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which took effect in 2000, set the minimum age for social media users in the U.S. at 13.

Lawmakers in Florida want teens to wait a bit longer.

House Bill 3, which was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in March, went into effect at the start of the new year. But social platforms are not required to begin enforcing it immediately, as a preliminary decision by the U.S. District Court for Northern Florida in Tallahassee on a challenge to the law is not expected until February.

The bill requires platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to terminate the accounts of users under the age of 16, and states that teens must be 16 years-old to create an account on those platforms by themselves. Those between the ages of 14 and 15 can do so with permission from and supervision by a parent or guardian.

HB3 covers platforms with addictive features, which lawmakers described as:

• Infinite scrolling, meaning content that loads continuously or as the user scrolls down the page, without requiring them to open a separate page.
• Seamless content, meaning pages with no visible or apparent breaks or end.
• Push notifications that alert users about specific activities or events related to their account.
• Personal interactive metrics that tell users the number of times other users clicked a button on the application to react to their content, or reposted or shared that content.
• Auto-play videos that launch without a user having to click on a play button.
• Livestreaming or similar features that let advertisers or users broadcast live video in real-time.

If the court challenge is denied and enforcement begins, social networking companies face potential fines of up to $50,000 per violation.

Industry groups the Computer & Communications Industry Association and NetChoice have pushed back on HB3, filing a lawsuit in October in which they said, “In a nation that values the First Amendment, the preferred response is to let parents decide what speech and mediums their minor children may access—including by utilizing the many available tools to monitor their activities on the internet.”

“The way this bill is structured, it is not engaging in any regulation of speech,” DeSantis said in a statement. “It is basically identifying functionality that is causing harm: the addictive features.”