A law in Florida now prohibits minors under 14 from using social media, and a prominent Texas judge believes his state should do the same.
As covered by The Dallas Express, the bill signed into law by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on March 25 bans minors under the age of 14 from having social media accounts and requires individuals aged 14 and 15 to get parental consent to log on. Supporters of the ban argue it will give power to parents and safeguard children from online predators.
“Previously, the concern was, ‘Well, if they’re unsupervised, perhaps a predator could strike,’” DeSantis said as he signed the bill into law last month, according to the New York Post. “Now, with platforms like social media and all this, you can have a kid at home — seemingly safe — and then you have predators who can gain access right there — into your own home.”
Rob Henneke, executive director and general counsel of the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), expressed his support for Florida’s ban on the day DeSantis signed it. He shared the New York Post story on X, stating, “Great idea.” He urged the Texas Legislature to “do the same thing in 2025.”
The Dallas Express spoke with Henneke, who previously served as an assistant attorney general in Texas, about the rationale and legal validity of Florida’s social media age restriction, which will likely be challenged in the courts, as has been the case for similar legislation passed in Arkansas.
One point of contention is that it would necessitate social media companies to collect personal information for verifying users’ ages. Its language aims to address such concerns by mandating “anonymous age verification” carried out by a “nongovernmental, independent third party.”
When explaining why such a law could be reasonable and sensible, Henneke compared the internet to “one big convenience store.”
“There’s a reason when you walk in and you buy a case of beer or pack of cigarettes or a lottery ticket or a pornography magazine, you have the cashier there to check your ID. Because it’s a longstanding legitimate role of government to protect children from harmful activities,” he told DX.
Henneke noted that TPPF has been advocating for a social media ban for minors in Texas for years, supporting a 2022 bill to do exactly that. Zach Whiting, the think tank’s tech policy director, argued that year such laws are needed because social media allegedly causes severe behavioral compulsions and addictions in very young individuals. Even though the proposed legislation did not pass, Texas did implement a law requiring more parental controls.
Discussing the limited bill that was enacted into law, Henneke said, “It wasn't as extensive as we wanted. Now, perhaps with Florida taking the lead, Texas will reconsider. I think you’ll see many states following suit.”
However, critics of the law, like Michael McGrady of Techdirt, argue that mandatory age verification requirements would significantly harm users’ rights to privacy and anonymity online.
That was also the stance of the ACLU when it argued against the bill’s adoption.
“The age-verification regulations in HB 3 create obstacles for users, whether they’re adults or minors, and their constitutional right to communicate online,” stated the ACLU’s legislative director, Kara Gross. “Age verification requirements blatantly stifle speech and jeopardize the privacy of adults by mandating them to give up their anonymity to engage in constitutionally protected speech.”
As DX reported at the time, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley received strong criticism from people who support freedom of speech when, as a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, she argued for getting rid of anonymous online accounts to oppose those promoting violence and advocating for genocide.
To some, the Florida law resembles Haley’s suggestion that every account should be linked to real names and IDs.
“Ron DeSantis criticized Nikki Haley for her social media ID/real name suggestion (she deserved it)… but by making social media companies host any and all legal content like the law in Florida he supported, he’s basically pushing for the same thing,” said Patrick Hedger, executive director at Taxpayers Protection Alliance, in an X post about the proposed bill back in January.
But Henneke argued that the Florida law and Haley’s suggestion promote fundamentally different ideas.
“[Haley] wanted to eliminate anonymous posting. She wasn’t dealing with the ownership” of the account, he said.
