Maritime experts weigh in on Florida bill that would ban social media to anyone under 16

On Wednesday the state of Florida passed a bipartisan bill that would ban social media for anyone in the state under the age of 16.

Known as Bill HB 1, the new proposal is making quick work though government just three weeks into the Florida legislative season. The next step for the proposal is to pass through the state Senate before finding its way to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“It’s like a digital fentanyl,” bill sponsor Fiona McFarland said Wednesday during the reading. “And even the most plugged-in parent or tuned-in teen has a tough time shutting the door.”

The bill would not only block users under 16 from using the platforms, it would also terminate any existing minor accounts even if they are parent approved.

Nigel Bone is a licensed psychotherapist operating out of Port City Counselling Services in Saint John, N.B. He understands the idea around the bill, but doesn’t think it will solve any social media issues.

“Kids are industrious, they are going to find a way around it,” Bone says. “Let’s have them put the effort into what is safe, collaborating with parents and everyone to improve our relationship with social media in general.”

He says in today’s day and age, kids should be taught the rights and wrongs of social media rather then taking it away until they are of age.

“What happens when they are 16?” questions Bone. “Are we setting them up for failure rather than setting them up for success. We need to have conversation around the issue and kids should be included. It’s not going away, and it is a part of our daily fabric.”

He says social media has both positive and negative impacts on a youths’ mental health. He says taking social media away would be going backwards in a sense, but some parents still fear what their kids may be up to on these platforms.

“There is a lot of concern because they didn’t have that,” Bone says. “It’s not just social media, it’s being on PlayStation or other game consoles and there has been a shift in our culture, and it’s how do we get back to centre.”

“Social media is like every other technology as it’s a double-edge sword,” says digital anthropologist Giles Crouch. “Just stopping it is dangerous as it’s like the war on drugs. It didn’t work out very well and this is taking that same blunt trauma approach to trying to fix the social media problem. That is a bad thing.”

Crouch, like Bone, notes how difficult it would be to keep minors off social media platforms. He says verifying anyone’s true age online is borderline impossible, and questions how this bill, if passed, would do so.

He says rather than take social media away, kids should be taught about all aspects of these platforms in school.

“They should start teaching it in grades 4 or 5 when kids are starting to get phones today,” says Crouch. “It would be really helpful if the education system included how to behave on social media, what to be aware of, what are the risks and dangers, and how to engage in it in a healthy way.”

Similar bills are also being tried in Utah and Ohio. Crouch says he wouldn’t be surprised to see similar attempts come north of the border in the future, but adds the Canadian Charter of Rights would likely put a quick halt onto any attempts on social media bans.