Florida pushes social media ban but bypasses parents

A law regulating kids and social media access sounds like something a lot of parents would welcome.

But when Florida lawmakers weighed in with a proposal this year, they managed to wind up in a strange spot: trampling the very parental rights they supposedly have been vigorously defending these last few years.

The bill at issue is House Bill 1. It’s a priority for House Speaker Paul

Renner and would prohibit children under 16 from using most social media platforms — regardless of parental approval. It would revoke existing accounts belonging to those children, delete the information from those accounts and require platforms to use age-verification methods.

Who wouldn’t want to shield children from the worst influences on social media? There’s so much awfulness out there — on TikTok and Snapchat and Instagram and YouTube and X and other platforms. Bullying, inappropriate content, unrealistic physical standards and hate speech abound. Children shouldn’t be subjected to that.

Even U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has spoken up, warning that there’s growing evidence that “social media use is associated with harm to young people’s mental health.”

But also at children’s fingertips on those platforms: vast educational resources on millions of topics, needed social support in times of trouble — especially for kids who cannot find it at home — sparks to creativity, ways to make money and, yes, actual fun. Also, keeping up with digital advances now, which come faster and faster, will be critical to their ability to succeed later on, in college or the work world.

Given the pluses and minuses of children’s social media exposure, it seems obvious that parents would need to be involved. And yet Florida’s lawmakers cut them out of the equation completely.

Florida is not alone in trying to legislate social media controls for kids.

Other states have also attempted laws, with some, including California, landing in court.

The legal problems these proposals face aren’t small. Laws restricting children’s access may run afoul of First Amendment free speech protections. And in Florida, there’s also the potent issue of parental rights.

Parental rights has been a centerpiece of the DeSantis administration, and Florida is now grappling with the consequences. Thousands of books have been pulled from school shelves because some parents and conservative groups found them objectionable. This growing assertion of parental rights has gotten so out of hand that there’s now a Republican-backed

proposal to make it harder to challenge books.

In 2022, the Parental Rights in Education law, dubbed by critics as the “Don’t say gay” law, was a way for conservatives to push back on what they see as liberal teachings in schools, especially when it comes to gender identity and sexuality. Parents need to decide what their kids are taught in school, the reasoning goes, not teachers or school boards.

But it’s becoming increasingly apparent that Florida’s brand of parental rights is selective. Agree with the folks in Tallahassee? Then you have those rights. Disagree? Don’t hold your breath waiting.

Think back to the 2023 Florida law that banned children from attending drag queen shows. Parents weren’t allowed to make that decision themselves; the Legislature made the decision for everyone. (The law has been blocked by the courts so far.) Parental rights were conveniently kicked to the curb.

Now we’re talking about restricting social media to, once again, protect kids. HB 1 sailed through the House last week with bipartisan support; it still must be approved by the Senate.

In the meantime, Gov. Ron DeSantis — who last week called social media “a net negative for our youth, without question” — has said he has legal concerns about the bill. It will need to “evolve,” he said, and added that he wants to “empower parents.”

DeSantis may be talking about empowering parents now but he had no issue with ignoring parental rights when it came to drag shows.

There are legitimate reasons to protect kids from social media. But, besides being potentially unconstitutional, HB 1 exposes the Legislature’s inconsistency on parental rights, making it look like it’s more about control than empowering parents.