- Florida has rejected a bill to require the setting against social networks for social networks
- The use of the social networks of the minor bill was “postponed and indefinitely withdrawal of consideration” on May 3, 2025
- Privacy experts have strongly criticized the proposal, warning that you would have made young people less safe
Florida has finally rejected a bill that would have required, among other things, in mandatory encryption cigars for all social networks platforms that allow minors to open an account.
The “use of social networks by minors” bill was a way to improve the safety of online children and also included obligations to prevent minors from using ephemeral messaging characteristics, while providing full access to their activities to parents and legal guardians. However, privacy experts have strongly criticized the proposal, warning that you would have made young people less safe.
On May 3, 2025, the bill was “indefinitely postponed and retired from consideration”, As indicated on the official website of the Senate of Florida.
“A victory for privacy”
Encryption is the technology used by safe messaging applications and the best VPN services to keep user activities private.
The signal, WhatsApp, Imessage and Instagram use end -to -end encryption to check all messages leaving a device illegally to avoid unauthorized access.
Florida legislators, however, wanted to force social media platforms “to provide a mechanism to decipher end -to -end encryption when the police get an order or citation.”
However, experts have warned for a long time that it is impossible to create a back door that only the police can exploit, de facto undermining a crucial security feature for all.
Although the Senate voted for the bill “Use of social networks for minors” (SB 868/HB 743) to approve, the Florida House of Representatives blocked it on May 3.
Not attracting the support of both legislative chambers means that the proposal was not approved and it was prevented from becoming law.
Update May 5, 2025: In a victory for privacy and encryption, the Florida Legislature ended its regular session of May 2 without approved SB 868/HB 743. https://t.co/jxAwoexDugMay 5, 2025
“In a victory for privacy and encryption, the Florida Legislature ended its regular session of 2025 on May 2 without approved SB 868 / HB 743”, Digital Rights Group The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) commented on the decision on a tweet on May 5.
EFF experts have previously considered the proposal “dangerous and dumb”, arguing how legislators were “asking for the impossible”, a back door of encryption only for minors that only the good ones would have been able to use.
This is not the first time that a similar bill did not receive the majority necessary to become law throughout the world.
In Europe, for example, France rejected the controversial disposition of the encryption rear door included in the drug trafficking law in March for similar reasons.
The EU Commission is not constantly agreed on what the chat control nicknamed, a bill that would use mandatory scanns of all citizens’ chats in an attempt to stop the propagation of sexual abuse material.
However, the encryption remains at the crossroads worldwide: on the one hand, the police see it as an obstacle to criminal investigation, on the other, cybersecurity experts reiterate their importance for the privacy and safety of all online.
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