TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is proposing sweeping new restrictions on social media platforms, app stores and artificial intelligence chatbots in an effort to strengthen online protections for children and give parents greater control over their digital activities.
The proposed legislation, called the Safe Screens Act, would require parental consent before minors download or purchase apps, establish mandatory social media restrictions for teenagers ages 14 to 17 and prohibit AI chatbots from offering features that could expose children to harmful content or encourage emotional dependence.
“Parents deserve real control, and companies must design for safety, not addiction,” Uthmeier said. “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 proposal follows an October 14 ruling by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowing Florida to enforce its existing restrictions on social media accounts for children under 14. The court concluded that the law would likely withstand constitutional scrutiny, although the underlying legal challenge has not been fully resolved.
Proposed Restrictions on Teen Social Media Use
Under the Safe Screens Act, social media companies would be required to implement stricter default settings for users ages 14 to 17.
The proposed restrictions include:
- Daily time limits: Teenagers would be limited to two hours of social media use per day and 60 hours per month, including messaging and video content.
- Mandatory quiet hours: Social media access would be blocked from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. daily and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays during the academic year.
- Restrictions on addictive features: Autoplay and infinite scrolling would be disabled by default unless a verified parent authorizes them.
- Limits on appearance filters: Filters promoting cosmetic procedures would be disabled.
- Stronger privacy protections: Platforms could not recommend teenagers’ accounts to unconnected adults or permit messages from those adults.
The legislation would also require platforms to hide public engagement metrics, including likes and reaction counts, unless a parent enables them.
Social media companies would be required to provide periodic screen-time notices and prompts encouraging users to switch to non-personalized feeds.
AI Chatbots Face New Restrictions
The legislation would also establish new safeguards for minors using artificial intelligence chatbots.
Under the proposal, AI companies would be prohibited from providing children with chatbot features designed to simulate romantic or emotional companionship, encourage social isolation or falsely suggest that the chatbot is a human being.
The restrictions would also prohibit chatbots from encouraging suicide, self-harm, eating disorders or illegal activities.
AI platforms would be barred from generating sexually explicit content for minors and providing unsupervised therapeutic interactions that could create emotional dependence.
The proposal would require chatbot operators to determine users’ ages through commercially reasonable, privacy-protective methods.
App Stores Would Need Parental Approval
Another major provision would require app stores and similar marketplaces to verify users’ ages and link minors’ accounts to a parent or guardian.
Parents would have to approve app downloads and purchases before minors could complete those transactions.
Operating systems would also be required to apply age-appropriate restrictions at the device level.
Companies Could Face $50,000 Fines
The Safe Screens Act would give the Florida Attorney General’s Office additional enforcement authority over technology companies that knowingly or recklessly violate the proposed requirements.
Violations could result in penalties of up to $50,000 per violation, along with potential legal action seeking damages and orders stopping prohibited practices.
The legislation would also require social media companies to conduct human reviews of child sexual exploitation reports within 48 hours and impose a one-strike policy for adult offenders.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd praised the proposal, arguing that stronger enforcement is necessary to prevent major technology companies from exploiting children.
“It takes the power and determination of an Attorney General to keep large social media and gaming companies from exploiting and endangering our children,” Judd said.
Polk State College President Anastasios Camoutsas also expressed support for prioritizing student safety.
The legislation remains a proposal and would require approval from Florida lawmakers before becoming law.
If enacted, the Safe Screens Act would significantly expand Florida’s regulation of technology companies, extending parental oversight beyond social media accounts to app marketplaces, device operating systems and AI-powered services.
