TALAHASSEE, Fla. – When Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed HB 3 into law earlier this week, he and the bill’s other supporters knew a legal fight was coming – quite possibly more than one.
Among other things, HB 3 prohibits minors under the age of 14 from establishing social media accounts (on some platforms, at least), requires parental permission for 14- and 15-year-olds to hold such accounts and requires adult websites to use age verification to prevent access by the state’s minors. Social media platforms and adult websites could face significant lawsuits and fines for violations under the new law, which takes effect January 1, 2025.
To say legal challenges to the new law are expected would be something of an understatement. The bill’s sponsors and supporters not only know this, but seem to be eagerly anticipating those challenges, to the point where they identified potential plaintiffs by name before DeSantis had even signed the bill.
House speaker Paul Renner, for example, has said he welcomes a fight with “groups like NetChoice,” which he described as “the umbrella group that will sue the day after this bill is signed or the second after this bill is signed.”
“But you know what? We’re going to beat ‘em,” Renner said.
Let’s just say the second part of that prediction is less certain than the first. Of course, I suppose it’s not exactly a “prediction” when the potential plaintiff has already made their intent clear.
Earlier this month when DeSantis indicated he would sign HB 3, NetChoice issued a statement in response in which the association expressed its strong opposition to the bill.
“As NetChoice explained in our testimony, public statements and veto letter to Gov. DeSantis, HB 3 in effect will impose an ‘I.D. for the Internet’ on any Floridian who wants to use an online service—no matter their age,” NetChoice asserted in the statement. “To be able to determine (1) whether a user in Florida is under the age of 14 and (2) whether the adult doing the verifying a minor over the age of 14 is truly that child’s parent or guardian, online services will need to conduct identity verification. This level of data collection will put Floridians’ privacy and security at risk, and it violates their constitutional rights, which NetChoice has seen from court rulings in Arkansas, California and Ohio, where each of the judges noted the similar laws’ constitutional and privacy problems.”
Carl Szabo, vice president and general counsel to NetChoice added that an “unconstitutional law will protect exactly zero Floridians.”
“HB 3 is also bad policy because of the data collection on Floridians by online services it will in effect require,” Szabo said. “This will put their private data at risk of breach. HB 3 forces Floridians to hand over sensitive personal information to websites or lose their access to critical information channels. This infringes on Floridians’ First Amendment rights to share and access speech online. We’re disappointed to see Gov. DeSantis sign onto this route. There are better ways to keep Floridians, their families and their data safe and secure online without violating their freedoms.”
Szabo and NetChoice might not be the only ones lining up to challenge HB 3, of course. The same day DeSantis signed the bill, the Free Speech Coalition issued a statement of its own, noting that FSC “opposed HB3 when it was introduced and will work to fight this deeply unconstitutional bill with our workers, businesses and allies, just as we have with similar bills (in other states).”
“We strongly believe that protecting minors online is a worthy goal, but forcing hundreds of millions of adults to sacrifice their anonymity is neither warranted nor justifiable,” FSC added. “Over the next few weeks, we’ll be talking with our members and allies about next steps in Florida and other states. This is not a fight we asked for, but it’s a fight we will win.”
