Lee County parents react to DeSantis signing bill restricting children from making social media accounts

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a new bill restricting social media access for children. Parents of children in Lee County are now weighing in.

The bill prohibits children under 14 from becoming social media account holders and allows 14 and 15-year-olds to become account holders with parental consent.

Ellen Purdy lives in Lee County and grew up in Florida. She said this is another way she thinks the governor is trying to control parents and children in the state.

“I feel that whole thing is a government overreach. First, you took the books out of the schools. Now he’s trying to tell parents how to parent their children, and I think every parent has the right to parent their child as they see fit, not a governor, not anybody else, and this is going to create a very large problem with our children,” Purdy said.

Amber Bovee is a Lee County parent with a different opinion on the bill. She thinks it’s preventing children from dangers seen and unseen.

“I agree with the bill. I think it’s going to help us to protect our children. Even with the filters and the parental controls, you can’t control exactly what it filters out and subjects our children to, and or the people that have access to our children with social media. I think it’s a great way to help protect our children, actually,” Bovee said.

The Governor held a press conference in Jacksonville Monday to sign House Bill 3.

“Social media harms children in a variety of ways,” said DeSantis. “HB 3 gives parents a greater ability to protect their children.

In addition to the social media ban, the bill will protect Floridians’ ability to remain anonymous online.

The bill is expected to be fought in courtrooms by various social media companies, and Purdy said she hoped it would happen.

“I think somebody should repeal the bill, or hopefully, there’ll be a group of people that will try to take it up in the courts just like all the other quackery bills that he’s put up that they’re fighting, and he’s losing them right and left because I think parental rights or parental rights. These are our children. Our children do not belong to the state of Florida. They do not belong to the governor. They belong to us,” Purdy said.

Bovee said she doesn’t think this is government overreach but another way the governor is protecting children.

“Parents these days just give these children so much access to freedom. And it’s actually more harmful than good, has so much influence on our children nowadays. I don’t think it’s more of a government overreach. I believe it’s just to help these children and protect them,” Bovee said.

House Bill 3 will also require pornographic or sexually explicit websites to use age verification to prevent minors from accessing sites that are inappropriate for children. 

The governor did not name any specific social media companies in the lawsuit.

He vetoed an original version of the bill that included a blanket ban on social media for kids. He said he wanted to include parental involvement.