The governor of the North American state of Florida, Ron DeSantis, today signed a law that prohibits children under 14 years of age from having accounts in social networks and imposes new restrictions on access to pornographic content websites.
The Republican signed the document despite criticism from several organizations, which warn of a possible violation of the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression.
"Social media harms children in many ways“, explained DeSantis in a statement highlighting that the law allows teenagers aged 14 and 15 to have online accounts only with their parents’ consent.
In addition to restricting access to social networks to children under 14 years of age, the HB3 law also imposes restrictions such as the mandatory verification of users' age to access websites with pornographic content.
In this sense, it also orders the elimination of all accounts held by minors from companies, which face fines of up to 50 thousand dollars if they do not do so, according to NBC News.
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DeSantis vetoed a previous text, approved by the Florida House of Representatives, which established the prohibition age at 16 and required identification from all minors in order to access networks.
With this measure, Florida joins states such as Arkansas and Utah, which have already implemented a social media ban for minors.
The NetChoice association, which defends freedom of expression on the internet, classified it as “disappointing” that DeSantis signed a law that could violate the First Amendment regarding access to network resources.
"This level of data collection puts the privacy of Florida citizens at risk and violates their rights. It is concerning for the network security of all Florida citizens and children“, said the association, in a statement.
