- New law will make it an offence for under-14s to open a social media account
- Social media companies could face fines of up to $50,000 per account for not deleting existing accounts
- Law set to come into effect next January, but challenges to it expected beforehand
Children aged under 14 living in Florida will be unable to open accounts on social media sites such as Instagram and SnapChat from January 2025, thanks to a new law signed off by governor, Ron DeSantis.
The new law means that any existing accounts belonging to an under-14-year-old will have to be deleted. In addition, children aged 14 and 15 will require parental consent to be able to open accounts on platforms such as Instagram.
Social media companies that do not delete the accounts of under-14-year-olds face fines of up to $50,000 per violation, as well as being sued on behalf of a child, with awards running up to $10,000.
DeStantis – who recently pulled out of the race to become the Republican nominee in the upcoming Presidential election – backed the law, saying he thought it was a fair application of the law and constitution.
However, not everyone agrees with this and, before the law becomes active in January, it is expected that there will be legal challenges to it from social media companies on the basis that it violates the US constitution. Republican speaker for Florida Paul Renner has said he expects this, but also expects them to lose.
The new bill also defines what material is harmful to children – anything that is “lacking serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.” This is in addition to depictions of sexual conduct and indecency.
Companies that fail to stop minors having access to material that falls under the harmful definition will be held accountable, meaning that they could be sued.
