New Florida Law Aimed at Curbing Kids’ Social Media May Require Everyone to Cough up Their ID

By March, you’ll likely have to upload government identification to access your favorite social media pages and websites in Florida. 

A new Florida law aimed at protecting minors online will soon require some social media and website users to verify their age. But the law is already facing legal challenges.

HB 3: Online Protections for Minors took effect in January and bans children under 14 from creating social media accounts on platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube. Teens aged 14 and 15 can join only with parental consent.

Now, the state is getting sued over the new law’s requirement that social media platforms verify users’ ages through government-issued ID or biometric data—a measure critics say poses privacy risks and restricts online access.

Two major lawsuits argue HB 3 violates constitutional rights and creates broad privacy concerns.

NetChoice, representing companies like Google, Amazon, and Meta, and the Free Speech Coalition, an adult industry nonprofit, claim the law infringes on the First Amendment and forces businesses to collect sensitive user data, putting Floridians at risk.

“There’s not enough protection for minors out there. I thought that we should give this a go and see if it helps,” said Florida State Representative Peggy Gossett-Seidman in an interview with MediaLab. “Free speech isn’t really free, it has to be protected as well. You can’t go into a theater and scream ‘fire.’”

Gov. DeSantis vetoed a stricter version of the bill last year, which would have blocked anyone under 16 from having social media,  but later signed HB 3, calling it “landmark legislation.”  

NetChoice sued Attorney General Ashley Moody, arguing HB 3 violates the First Amendment by restricting minors’ access to speech and forcing businesses to collect sensitive data.

“HB 3 restricts access to constitutionally protected speech for minors and burdens access to that speech for adults,” says Paul Taske, NetChoice’s associate director of litigation. “It both violates the First Amendment for our members, who have a right to disseminate that lawful speech without government interference, and for the minor and adult users for not being able to access, or having barriers to access, that speech.”

Attorney General Moody agreed to pause enforcement of the bill until the preliminary injunction motion is resolved, as outlined in court documents. According to the bill, the Department of Legal Affairs could collect up to $50,000 per violation. The preliminary injunction is scheduled for Feb. 28. 

Taske adds that states with similar bills are trying to find a way to protect children, which he believes is essential, but the way they’re doing it is unconstitutional. During NetChoice’s advocacy and litigation, they present alternatives, like educating parents on existing device and app settings.

The Free Speech Coalition (FSC), a nonprofit that protects the rights and freedoms of the adult industry, is also suing the state of Florida over HB 3 and its age verification requirements. The FSC has filed suit in several other states, and their case against the Texas law, similar to Florida’s HB 3 requiring age verification for adult content, has made it to the United States Supreme Court. 

“We have a First Amendment right as Americans, or Floridians, to speak, but we also have a First Amendment right to consume without the government censoring,” said Mike Stabile, director of public policy for the FSC. 

Critics argue that HB 3 not only blocks content for minors; it blocks content for adults, too. Nineteen states have passed age verification laws since Louisiana in 2022.

“When consumers must scan an ID or their face, most leave,” Stabile added. “These laws create an unreasonable burden, leading to effective censorship.”

The staff summary of HB 3 points to the “addictive designs” and “deceptive patterns” of social media, like infinite scroll, autoplay, and incentivizing people to “impulse buy” or give away personal information, among other things. 

“[The bill] is not saying that you can’t use the internet and social media. It’s just to make sure that there is some monitor at home, by way of a parent or guardian, that is aware of what’s going on,” Florida Sen. Jason Pizzo told MediaLab in an interview. 

When DeSantis vetoed the earlier version of the bill, he noted he wanted to give parents more of a role in the situation. 

“If parents now have to go sign their kid up to give them their account or chaperone their account, I think parents are going to be taking a look at some of their kid’s friends and photos and posts for the very first time and (it will) spark some conversation for the very first time, hopefully, productive ones,” added Pizzo.  

The bill summary cites that social media can benefit children by exchanging ideas or photos, but comes with mental health risks like depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem.

“If this bill helps direct [teenagers and adolescents] to a more healthy, online relationship with other sites, rather than the nefarious ones, then that’s a good thing,” says Gossett-Seidman. 

In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General released the “Social Media and Youth Mental Health” report and concluded that 13 is “too young” to use social media, even though you can create an account across most social media sites starting at age 13. The report also stated that “we cannot conclude that social media is sufficiently safe for children and adolescents,” citing the need to understand better what factors can be used to protect children. 

Data security is also a concern with age verification standards for those who oppose the bill. 

“They force the collection and retention of sensitive information. If you have to prove your identity either to show that you are above a certain age or that you are this person’s parent…the company then needs to keep that information on hand so they can show it to the government,” Taske said, to prove that they are verifying the ages of users.

Critics argue data collection creates security risks, citing past breaches in states with similar laws.

“It is a possibility. We’re all at risk every day,” said Gossett-Seidman. “We haven’t had major reports of breaches, but it’s possible.”

The commercial entity is also responsible for picking up the cost of age verification. Stabile says this creates an obstacle for the site’s owner, as they may pay more in age verification costs than they make from the site. 

“I think there is a lack of understanding about how social media works,” said Mike Hiestand, senior legal counsel for the Student Press Law Center. “I think what we ought to be doing is teaching them how to better use it, how to safely use social media without banning it.”

Hiestand said HB 3 is “absolutely” a form of censorship.

“Not all censorship is necessarily bad or unlawful,” he added, “but that’s what courts will have to decide.”