Torres: Social media ban for kids sounds great … can I get banned too?

Consumers are referred to as users in really only two industries. Drug dealing is one of them. Can you guess the second?

Pretty soon children under the age of 16 may no longer be able to use social media in our state. The bipartisan bill, known as HB1, was approved 106-13 last week. The bill, which would ban social media for minors under the age of 16 ― and sponsored by Brevard Rep. Tyler Sirois — is expected to have little trouble gaining state senate approval.

Representative Tyler Sirois is the main sponsor of HB1

So, what does it mean?

It means that once the bill passes the senate, reaches the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis and he signs it, social media platforms would be compelled to prohibit minors from creating new accounts, terminate existing accounts of those younger than 16 and use age verification for account holders, without a parental permission exemption.

More importantly it means our children will no longer spend endless hours scrolling on their phones through a barrage of images and posts that — by design or not — cause many young people to feel inadequate: not pretty enough, not thin enough, not rich enough, not successful enough.

More: Brevard resident Anthony Russo is a YouTube star with nearly 3 million subscribers

Forget young people, social media makes me feel that way too. My wife and I felt a wee bit jealous soon after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted and we saw photos of a couple we know having a grand old time at one of the re-opened Disney hotels and parks.

That is, until we saw the couple soon thereafter and commented about how much fun they were having. It turned out they had an awful time as many of the attractions and restaurants were still not open, service was poor and prices seemed higher.

I’m 58 years old and I hate going on social media. If it wasn’t part of my job to use it, I would delete my accounts. Who the heck wants to scroll through mindlessly looking at their friends’ great new car, home improvement, European vacation and post after post of their Cumma Sum Laude children? Yech.

Imagine what that kind of stuff does to kids? Especially when others use filters and photoshop to further propagate the myth of their lives?

“Like”buttons like this one on Facebook are one of the features that HB1 is trying to keep from children under the age of 16.

The bill focuses on social media platforms that deploy addictive features like auto scroll, infinite scroll, autoplay push notifications and a ‘like’ button, Sirois told me.

“These companies are using these features, which are prompting a dopamine high. You know, they’re invoking a chemical response in our kids,” Sirois said during a telephone interview, adding concern for rising suicide rates and instances of eating disorders and other mental health issues attached to social media.

“We had a workshop on this in the House of Representatives back in December, and one of the psychiatrists that presented to us actually said that, ‘On our present course, we should just expect that depression will become a normal thing for American girls,’ Sirois said.

It was that statement that caught his attention.

More: Bill sponsored by Brevard Rep. Sirois would restrict social media use by those under age 16

“This really started as a conversation between myself and Rep. Michele Rayner, who is a progressive Democrat from the Sarasota area,” Sirois said. “One day we struck up a conversation and we kind of mutually arrived at the understanding of just how devastating an impact social media is having on our kids. So that’s kind of the genesis of this bill.”

Ohio, Arkansas and Utah have and are still attempting to enact similar legislation but are getting pushback from groups representing Meta (Facebook) and others. DeSantis recently said the bill, in its current state, might be too broad. He expects the bill that crosses his desk might look differently than it does now.

“I think social media has been a net negative for our youth, without question,” said DeSantis. “Now, having said that, there have been other states that have tried to do similar things that have met resistance in the courts. … Anything I do, I want a pathway for this to actually stick.”

I asked Sirois if he’s gotten pushback yet from social media companies.

“I think some of the comments that they’ve put out show they’re certainly not happy with it, but I don’t care,” he said. “They’ve developed a business model that is taking advantage of the behavioral development of our kids. That to me is, is really despicable.”

This combination of 2017-2022 photos shows the logos of Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat on mobile devices that may soon be banned from allowing minors in Florida to use the social media sites.

Sirois stressed that it’s not up to him to say whether social media is a good or bad thing, just that people under the age of 16 are not at an emotional, behavioral or developmental place appropriate for them to be on the platform.

“The legislature really views this issue and the ban on minors under the age of 16, through the same lens as what we’ve created related to our alcohol and tobacco laws, vaping, casino gaming or getting a tattoo,” Sirois said. “All of those have age requirements, and none of them have a parental waiver. There’s no document that you can sign to take your kid to sit at a slot machine next to you.”

Now, who can I get to sponsor a bill to ban me from the nauseating exaggerations on my Facebook feed?

Contact Torres at jtorres@floridatoday.com. You can follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @johnalbertorres

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Florida bill to ban kids from social media. Can I get banned too? | Torres