A Senate committee is slated Thursday to take up a House proposal that seeks to prevent children under age 16 from using social media.
The Senate Fiscal Policy Committee will consider the bill (HB 1), which is a priority of House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, according to a Senate calendar published Monday.
If the bill clears the Fiscal Policy Committee, it could be ready to go to the full Senate. The bill would prevent minors under 16 from creating social media accounts and would require social media platforms to terminate existing accounts that are “reasonably known” by the platforms to be held by such minors.
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The proposal, in part, also would require platforms to use independent organizations to conduct age verifications when new accounts are created and would require denial of accounts for people who do not verify their ages.
The House overwhelmingly passed the bill Jan. 24, and the Senate Judiciary Committee last week approved a Senate version (SB 1788). The Fiscal Policy Committee is scheduled to take up the House version.
Renner and other supporters of the bill describe social media as harmful to children’s mental health, but they have faced questions about the constitutionality of the proposal.
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