Skip to main content

Slashdot: DeSantis Signs Bill Requiring Parental Consent For Kids Under 16 To Hold Social Media Accounts

DeSantis Signs Bill Requiring Parental Consent For Kids Under 16 To Hold Social Media Accounts
Published on March 26, 2024 at 02:12AM
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis just signed into law HB 3 [PDF], a bill that will give parents of teens under 16 more control over their kids' access to social media and require age verification for many websites. From a report: The bill requires social media platforms to prevent kids under 14 from creating accounts, and delete existing ones. It also requires parent or guardian consent for 14- and 15-year-olds to create or maintain social media accounts and mandates that platforms delete social media accounts and personal information for this age group at the teen's or parent's request. Companies that fail to promptly delete accounts belonging to 14- and 15-year-olds can be sued on behalf of those kids and may owe them up to $10,000 in damages each. A "knowing or reckless" violation could also be considered an unfair or deceptive trade practice, subject to up to $50,000 in civil penalties per violation. The bill also requires many commercial apps and websites to verify their users' ages -- something that introduces a host of privacy concerns. But it does require websites to give users the option of "anonymous age verification," which is defined as verification by a third party that cannot retain identifying information after the task is complete.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Slashdot: Spain-Backed Fund Joins FOSSA's Sovereign Satellite Communications Push

Spain-Backed Fund Joins FOSSA's Sovereign Satellite Communications Push Published on 2026-06-28T22:05:00Z Spanish startup FOSSA Systems "has raised about $10.5 million to expand its connectivity constellation," reports Space News, noting some funding is backed by Spain's government: The support from the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation (SETT) comes a year after the fund injected 14 million euros into Spain's Sateliot , which is also developing a satellite connectivity network with security and defense applications. Spanish private investment firm Kibo Ventures led FOSSA's funding round, the six-year-old venture announced June 24, bringing its total raised to date to nearly 20 million euros. The proceeds will help fuel FOSSA's push beyond the tiny picosatellites it once used to connect low-power monitoring devices toward larger cubesats in low Earth orbit, enabling additional sovereign communications and space-based intelligence capab...

Slashdot: AT&T Outlines $250 Billion US Investment Plan To Boost Infrastructure In AI Age

AT&T Outlines $250 Billion US Investment Plan To Boost Infrastructure In AI Age Published on 2026-03-10T20:00:00Z AT&T plans to invest more than $250 billion over the next five years to expand U.S. telecom infrastructure for the AI age. The company says it will also hire thousands of technicians while partnering with AST SpaceMobile to extend coverage to remote areas. Reuters reports: Rapid adoption of artificial intelligence, cloud computing and connected devices has prompted telecom operators to invest heavily in fiber and 5G networks as they also seek to fend off intensifying competition from cable broadband providers. AT&T, which has about 110,000 employees in the U.S., said the new hires will help build and maintain its infrastructure. The outlay includes capital expenditure and other spending, the company said. The spending will focus on expanding its fiber and wireless networks, including accelerating deployment of fiber broadband, 5G home internet and satellite co...