Tallahassee, FL – March 11, 2025 – A new bill in the Florida House of Representatives file by Tyler Sirois, HB 743, aims to regulate social media use by minors, sparking debate over its implications for privacy, security, and core conservative principles. Introduced for the 2025 legislative session, the bill amends Section 501.1736 of the Florida Statutes to require social media platforms to disable encryption features on accounts held by users under 18. Set to take effect on July 1, 2025, if passed, HB 743 seeks to enhance parental and law enforcement oversight but faces scrutiny for its practicality and unintended consequences.
What HB 743 Does
HB 743 mandates that social media platforms eliminate end-to-end encryption and other data protection features for minors’ accounts. This would allow parents or legal guardians to view all messages sent or received by their children. Additionally, law enforcement could access these messages in felony criminal investigations involving minors. The bill builds on existing rules requiring platforms to terminate accounts of users under 14 and, for those aged 14 or 15, to obtain parental consent or face account closure.
Practicality Under Question
Implementing HB 743 presents technical challenges. Social media platforms must accurately identify minors’ accounts—a task complicated by users’ ability to falsify their age during sign-up. Disabling encryption for some users while maintaining it for others requires significant system changes, potentially creating security vulnerabilities. Experts note that encryption is a uniform safeguard across platforms, and selectively removing it could demand costly overhauls, raising doubts about feasibility.