The Florida Senate approved a bill on Thursday to limit the use of social networks by minors under 16 years of age.
The House approved the bill in a 108-7 vote on Thursday and a few hours later the Senate ratified the initiative with 23 votes in favor and 14 against.
The law implicates any “social media site that tracks user activity, allows children to upload material and interact with others, and uses addictive features designed to cause excessive or compulsive use.”
Likewise, it expands the right of parents to demand that platforms delete their children’s accounts if they so decide.
Dr. Angela Tejeda stressed that as a mother and doctor, she does not consider social networks appropriate for children under 16 years of age.
Supporters of the initiative point to increasing suicide rates among children, cyberbullying and predators who use social media to interact with and prey on minors.
American doctors indicate that the use of networks contributes to depression and anxiety in young people.
Alina García, local representative, explained that this initiative gives parents the opportunity that when they ask the platform to remove their child from the networks, they have to do so or it leaves the door open to a lawsuit.
The psychotherapist Alfredo Hernández recently pointed out that when minors are involved in social networks They stop socializing, playing sports and becoming aware of their surroundings.
However, he considered that although they must be limited, parents must intentionally train their children in the moderate use of these platforms, so that when they reach the age of 18 “they do not jump into a deep pool.”
This request takes place when the trial against a 13-year-old Cuban teenager accused of murdering his mother with 46 stab wounds and sending photos of the crime to a friend he met three years earlier on social networks is taking place in a Florida court.
Although the involvement of the use of networks in the case has not been proven, the fact has alerted the community that the use of these platforms can be harmful to children.
