Social media restrictions back in the spotlight after Florida's new bill signed

NORTH CAROLINA (WTVD) -- Social media restrictions are once again in the spotlight after Florida became the latest state to pass a law restricting kids' access to popular platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok.

On Monday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a new bill into law that will ban social media for kids under the age of 14, and require 14 and 15-year-olds to have parental consent to operate social media accounts. If it withstands expected legal challenges the Sunshine State will have one of the country's most restrictive social media bans for minors.

Ohio, California, and Utah already have similar restrictions.

Monday's bill signing reignited the conversation about potentially similar legislation coming to North Carolina, but experts say -- it's not that simple.

"We believe social media is one of the greatest influences on a child's life," said Laura Tierney, Founder and CEO of The Social Institute." And we have the opportunity to help kids make that a positive influence."

The Social Institute works with kids and parents to promote positive social media usage, embracing technology and trying to give kids the tools they need to navigate it. Tierney says a ban alone won't necessarily solve some of the bigger problems at play, and kids will always try to find ways to avoid those restrictions.

"They are determined and they will find a way to use social media or technology even with possible legislation," Tierney said. "So with legislation has to come education because many will find a way around that."

In North Carolina, similar legislative action is well within the realm, though it likely won't come up in this year's short session.

"I think that there is probably going to be a growing sentiment and not just on one side of the aisle, but on both to do something about it," said Mitch Kokai, Senior Political Analyst for the Locke Foundation.

Kokai said while Florida can serve as a bellwether for conservative-leaning legislatures, recent school board action against social media companies in more liberal counties like Mecklenburg and Wake show that social media is a different animal.

"If all of these people have these same concerns about social media, that it's not necessarily a partisan issue and it's something that you should be able to put together that would get bipartisan support," said Kokai.

ABC11 reached out to legislative leaders to learn if there were conversations taking place about a potential social media bill, but did not hear back.

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