Florida Proposes Age Verification, Parental Consent, and Design Defaults

According to a press release from the Florida Attorney General's office, AG James Uthmeier proposed the Safe Screens Act. The release describes it as legislation that would require age determination and parental consent before minors download or buy apps, set protective design defaults on social media accounts for ages 14 to 17, and bar AI chatbots from giving minors features that simulate companionship, encourage harm, generate sexual content, or claim to be human.

Uthmeier said: "Parents deserve real control, and companies must design for safety, not addiction." He added: "Florida already prohibits social media accounts for anyone under 14, and the Eleventh Circuit just upheld that law. The Safe Screens Act goes further. If you invite Florida's children onto your platform, you have a duty to keep them safe." The release also includes statements of support from Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd and Polk State College President Anastasios Camoutsas.

The Problems the Release Cites

The release says app stores still let minors download apps with weak age checks, and that AI chatbot operators and platforms don't consistently determine the age of the account holder. It says default settings for teens 14 to 17 maximize engagement through infinite scroll, public "like" counts, late-night access, and cosmetic filters that fuel body-image problems. 

It also says AI chatbots simulate companionship that encourages isolation, generate sexual content, and claim to be human. These are the release's own claims, and it doesn't cite supporting data.

What the Act Would Require

According to the release, the Safe Screens Act would:

Require age determination and parental consent

App stores and similar marketplaces would have to determine the user's age, link minors to a parent's account, and get parental consent before a minor downloads or buys an app from a covered platform. AI chatbot operators and platforms would have to determine the account holder's age. Operating systems would have to apply age-appropriate restrictions at the device level based on the user's age.

Set design defaults for social media accounts held by 14- to 17-year-olds

Quiet mode during school and sleep hours, as well as hiding like counts. Cosmetic-procedure filters would be disabled. Overall use would be limited to 2 hours a day and 60 hours a month, including messaging and long-form content, with pauses at 60 and 90 minutes and a notice every 15 minutes. 

Autoplay and infinite scroll would be off by default, with parent-only enablement. Platforms couldn't recommend teen accounts to unconnected adults or allow messaging from those adults.

Limit AI chatbot features for all minors

Chatbot operators couldn't provide minors with features that simulate companionship through personification, emotional engagement, user-data retention, unsupervised therapy, sexual content, or other deceptive features. 

They also couldn't encourage self-harm, suicide, eating disorders, or illegal activity, generate, describe, or facilitate sexually explicit conduct, suggest the chatbot is a real human, prioritize validation or engagement over user safety or guardrails, or encourage isolation or discourage help from appropriate adults.

Enforce uniformly

Knowing or reckless violations would be unfair practices under section 501.1736 of the Florida Statutes, with penalties of up to $50,000 per violation. The Attorney General's office could stop violations, seek damages, impose fines, and maintain a public website to track incidents. 

The remedies would apply equally to covered app stores, social media platforms, and AI chatbot operators.

Background: Florida's Existing Law

According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Florida's H.B. 3 requires covered platforms to ban anyone under 14 from opening or keeping accounts, even with parental permission, and allows 14- and 15-year-olds to have accounts only with parental consent. 

The EFF says two opinions from the 11th Circuit issued last week lifted the injunctions that had paused enforcement of H.B. 3 and Georgia's S.B. 351, and that both cases continue in the lower courts. The Attorney General's release describes the Eleventh Circuit as having "upheld" the Florida law. We covered the EFF's response to the rulings separately.

Why This Is Bad

The Safe Screens Act can’t tell who’s a minor without checking everyone. App stores, operating systems, and chatbot operators would all have to determine users’ ages, and the release doesn’t say what “commercially reasonable, privacy-protective methods” means. 

As the EFF has said about similar laws, that likely means more ID and sensitive data collected, some adults misclassified as too young, and others giving up services rather than handing over more personal information. The Act also swaps family decisions for fixed state rules: a 2-hour daily cap and an overnight and school-hours block, with no parental override mentioned for either. 

A flat cap can’t tell a teen scrolling compulsively from one messaging friends to organizing a club. With fines of up to $50,000 per violation, our read is that companies will have an incentive to check more users, more often. Bye-bye to internet freedom, right, Florida?