Ron DeSantis blocks Republican law that prohibited social media for minors – 2024-03-05 07:52:27

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis blocked a controversial bill, which would have completely changed the dynamics of social media in the state.

The initiative, known as Law HB1, had caused a great scandal for establishing the prohibition of the use of social networks in minors under 16 years of ageand adolescents are the group that uses these platforms the most.

Proposed by local members and senators of the Republican Party, and approved by a majority in the House of Representatives, the law was vetoed upon reaching the governor, who only had to approve it for it to become effective.

Republicans defended the plan, arguing that it represented a protection measure for minors, due to the negative effects of early exposure to these platforms.

The law would not only have prohibited Florida minors from creating accounts on different platforms, such as TikTok, Facebook, Instagram or X, but the responsible companies would have been requested to close existing accounts with users in that age range. .

DeSantis, despite belonging to the same party, did not give his signature to make the measure a reality, and although he expressed his concern about the possible damages associated with the aforementioned platforms, he indicated that he prefers to find a different solution.

“Protecting children from the harms associated with social media is important, as is supporting parental rights and maintaining the ability of adults to engage in anonymous speech,” he wrote in a message on X.

The bill had been the subject of intense debate in the Florida legislature. In the Senate, it received 23 votes in favor and 14 against, while, in the House of Representatives, it obtained 106 votes in favor and only 13 against.

Republican lawmakers pushed this initiative, with House Speaker Paul Renner leading the plan. However, the debate went beyond politics, and the opinions of citizens began to be seen on the networks themselves.

The main cause of controversy was whether state intervention was really the solution when responsibility for the content and exposure time to which minors have access on the networks should be the responsibility of the parents.

The effectiveness of this measure was also discussed, since it would be enough for adolescents to lie about their age to create new platforms, so family supervision was still necessary.