Social media ban ready for vote on Senate floor

Rep. Erin Grall. House photo by Meredith Geddings.

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.”