News Analysis

The impact of social media on children has been a major topic recently that’s made it’s way into the world of politics. In Washington, D.C., Congress seemingly has an oversight hearing for a social media or tech company giant every month. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg may as well buy a house in Washington with how much he has to appear before the House of Representatives.

Republicans, in particular, grilled Mark Zuckerberg for Facebook creating a platform that allowed an innocent minor to be exposed to graphic content that is not safe for children at all, despite their “safeguards.”

Zuckerberg: "I think protecting minors and protecting their privacy is extremely important and we do a number of things on Facebook to do that already." pic.twitter.com/ShRoMQEIPB

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) April 10, 2018

According to the Health and Human Services agency of the federal government, minors who are using social media for at least three hours a day are twice as likely to face severe mental health issues like depression. Psychologists generally agree that, at the very least, it’s not known if consistent social media use is safe for minors.

Ron DeSantis signing this bill is likely only going to promote his favorability in the state of Florida even more. Citizens across the country, particularly parents and grandparents, are likely to be fond of this type of legislation being exported to their states and locales as well.

The Democrats in particular are not going to like this move at all. Studies show that Democrats are way more successful than Republicans are at reaching young people on social media to drum up support in the public eye. Of course, minors can’t vote yet, but Democrats absolutely view reaching young kids as an outlet to getting a future voter and donor.

Cutting off the outlet of preying on minors on the internet through social media platforms could be devastating for the future of the Democrat Party, particularly if these bills start to catch fire around the nation.

The only major concern left for the bill that was signed into law and goes into effect in January of 2025, is whether the courts will uphold it. It’s not hard to imagine a Leftist Obama or Biden federal judge picking this one up for an injunction. Were that to happen, the appellate court and possibly the Supreme Court would likely get involved.