The conclusion of the second week of Florida’s legislative session has been just as tumultuous as the first. This week the most talked about piece of legislation has been HB1.
HB1, written and introduced by representatives Sirois, McFarland, Rayner, Anderson, Black, Garcia, Jacques, Melo, Tant and Tramont, proposes social media bans for minors of the age sixteen and under, as well as giving complete parental control of social media accounts to parents for minors aged sixteen and seventeen.
“Other than the fact that this is a clear violation of the First Amendment,” Florida High School Democrats said in a press release on Jan. 19. “This is an obvious attempt to make organizing harder for young people in Florida. So many high schoolers rely on social media to find a sense of community and mental health resources.”
The bill has had some bipartisan support, with a majority of Republican officials having announced support, and the reaction from Democrat officials being more mixed.
“I don’t think they should because it can bring people close to people that [they] may be separated from,” freshman Brooke Weis said. “Like if your friend moves you can stay connected which is super important for this generation so we feel less alone.”
Although the bill looks favorable to pass, it is a question of if it will stay in law for very long. People under the age of sixteen are a large portion of most social media’s user base, so there is an easy gateway for companies like Instagram and TikTok to sue for loss of revenue caused by mass bannings.
“This is a clear First Amendment breach,” FDP official Jackson McMillan said. “And you can always count on corporations to sue the state when they get in the way of profit.”
