Jacob Ogles
A social media ban has been combined in the Senate with a requirement that porn sites verify user age. The legislation also advanced from its final committee with no exceptions for parents granting permission to children who want accounts.
Sen. Erin Grall, a Fort Pierce Republican, said the predatory behavior of tech companies seeking data on minors warrants government action.
“They talk for regulation on one side and they want no accountability on the other side of their mouth,” Grall said. “And so they have decided to come for our kids.”
The Senate Fiscal Policy, before advancing the bill (SB 1788), approved an amendment to the legislation that effectively ties the issue directly to proposed regulations with online porn distributors.
Age requirements for pornography and other material deemed harmful to minors hasn’t drawn opposition from lawmakers on its own. But an all-out ban on anyone age 16 and younger from opening or keeping social media accounts has many lawmakers concerned about parental rights.
Sen. Shevrin Jones, a Miami Gardens Democrat, noted Democrats voting against the bill in committee find themselves in the same place as Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Governor said he worries a bill with no exception for parental consent won’t stand up in courts.
“I want to respectfully suggest to my colleagues as we think about this that we get out of the house of families and focus on helping families keep their homes and keep their children safe,” Jones said.
Yet the legislation also found support from both sides of the aisle. Sen. Rosalind Osgood, a Democrat who previously served on the Broward County School Board, said the dangers of social media pose a greater concern.
“I think about how social media sometimes cripple our children on being able to actually interact with each other face to face in society,” Osgood said. “I could just go on and on. My support for this bill is because I believe in my heart it is the right thing for us to do.”
But likewise, some Republican Senators voiced concerns with the bill. Sen. Jay Trumbull, a Panama City Republican, said he worries the bill reaches in the wrong direction. He ultimately voted to advance the bill but encouraged more work to be done before it reaches the Senate floor.
“My hope is that we tread lightly in the areas that erode the bedrock of our governance philosophy,” he said. “When it comes to a child in Florida, the job, in my opinion, of parenting is best left with the parents.”
Grall said the addictive elements of social media make the platforms a force on par with other social threats that the state has no problem regulating without asking parents’ permission.
“I hear the parental rights conversation. But as a state, we have made a number of decisions around harmful behavior and children and we don’t allow parents to harm their children. We don’t allow them to addict their children. We step in as the state of Florida. We say that’s not acceptable.”
The House has already passed both the social media ban and the age verification requirements on porn sites. But if the Senate passes the combined legislation as written, it will need to come back for a vote by the House again.
House Speaker Paul Renner signaled support to the bill language advancing in the Senate.
“Senator Erin Grall is a champion for children,” he posted on social media. “I appreciate her efforts carrying HB 1 and her commitment to empowering parents by freeing our children from the grip of social media companies. There is more to life than likes.”
4 comments
Dr. Franklin Waters
February 15, 2024 at 4:31 pm
So to keep kids off of social media, it WILL require adults to provide ID and proof of age in order to use it. You all understand that right?
Are you all OK with giving your ID to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTock in order to keep your account live?
Because THAT is what this bill is about. It’s not about keeping kids off of social media, but monitoring what adults do on it and attaching a name and face to their online activity.
ronald g
February 16, 2024 at 9:08 am
Yes, and honestly, I think keeping 15 year olds off of social media is weirdly babyish anyway. You can get a learner’s permit at 15, yet apparently you are deemed to stupid and irresponsible to simply post on Instagram or Reddit. We pass these kinds of babyish laws, and then wonder why people are still financially dependent on their parents well into their 20s.
If a parent really wants to keep their15 year old off of social media, they can always get some of that parental control software. Yeah, that software is really intended for parents of 3-9 year olds, but there’s nothing that prevents a parent from using the software against a 15 year old. You don’t need the legislature to ban your 15 year old from social media
Earl Pitts "Sage Political Expert Emeritas" American
February 18, 2024 at 5:21 pm
Good evening America,
In a tech related article I lifted from a reliable source, I believe it was the NYT, Artifical Intelegance has finally reached it’s zeneth proving to be a valuable aid to humanity for many centuries going forward:
Amazing New Technology Sure To Advance Mankind To The Next Level Of Consciousn – Never Mind, They’re Just Using It To Make Porn Again
The dawn of artificial intelligence has brought mankind to the cusp of potentially reaching an entirely new level of consciousness, but humanity has decided to instead use it to make more porn.
“After spending so many decades of my life developing artificial intelligence, I could not wait to see what mankind would do with this unbelievable tool,” explained A.I. designer Sam Hawkins. “Would it be used to diagnose cancer earlier? Help us communicate across every language on the planet? Nope. Turns out, humans will use any tool capable of making porn to, well, make porn. I’m an idiot.”
Though sources report occasional instances of artificial intelligence being used to augment internet search results or type students’ essays, research confirms that 99.9% of its use has just been for porn. “We could task artificial intelligence to work through the most complex problems imaginable at a rate far beyond human capacity, unlocking remarkable goods for humanity,” said developer Thomas Whitehead. “This was sure to be the key to the next incredible leap in human understanding. It was… until people realized they could use it to make porn. I can’t believe this is what actual intelligence does with artificial intelligence.”
Thank you America,
Earl Pitts”Artificial Intelegence Expert” American
rick whitaker
February 19, 2024 at 2:02 pm
CAUTION ⚠ TROLL COMMENT BY EARL THE PORN ADDICT
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