Florida authorities have banned the use of social networks by children under the age of 14

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a law prohibiting children under the age of 14 from opening accounts on social networks. Social networks will also have to delete existing accounts. Children aged 14-15 years can create accounts only with parental consent. The law will come into force on January 1, 2025. Violation of it may result in a fine of up to $50,000.

The document also introduces restrictions on websites with sexual content. To enter they will require confirmation of the user’s age. As the governor noted in his statement, “social media harms children in many ways,” and the new law “gives parents more power to protect their children.”

Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives Paul Renner added that “the Internet has become a dark alley for our children, where they are preyed upon by predators, and due to dangerous social networks, depression rates are rising, self-harm and even suicide are increasing.”

Similar laws are being discussed or have already been passed in several other US states, including Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Ohio and Utah. However, in some cases this has given rise to legal problems. For example, last year a federal court temporarily blocked the law from going into effect in Ohio. The court was concerned about the potential violation of teenagers’ right to access information, which is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the US Constitution. Another federal judge last year temporarily blocked a similar law in Arkansas. As noted CNNperhaps the law in Florida will not go unnoticed by the federal court.

Kommersant wrote in an article about how the West is fighting the harmful influence of social networks on the younger generation. “Smartphones are not a toy for children”.

Alena Miklashevskaya