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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) just signed into law HB 3, a bill that will give parents of teens under 16 more control over their kids’ access to social media and require age verification for many websites.

The bill requires social media platforms to prevent kids under 14 from creating accounts, and delete existing ones. It also requires parent or guardian consent for 14- and 15-year-olds to create or maintain social media accounts and mandates that platforms delete social media accounts and personal information for this age group at the teen’s or parent’s request. Companies that fail to promptly delete accounts belonging to 14- and 15-year-olds can be sued on behalf of those kids and may owe them up to $10,000 in damages each. A “knowing or reckless” violation could also be considered an unfair or deceptive trade practice, subject to up to $50,000 in civil penalties per violation.

The bill also requires many commercial apps and websites to verify their users’ ages — something that introduces a host of privacy concerns. But it does require websites to give users the option of “anonymous age verification,” which is defined as verification by a third party that cannot retain identifying information after the task is complete. The requirement kicks in when a commercial site contains a “substantial portion of material harmful to minors,” defined as more than a third of content on the site, which would clearly target porn sites in particular. Such sites must ensure users are 18 or older — though news sites are exempt from the requirement. Violations are also subject to an up to $50,000 civil penalty each.


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Read on The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/25/24087979/florida-desantis-social-media-age-verification-parental-consent-law