Florida Passes HB3

This afternoon, Florida Governor DeSantis has signed into law HB3, an age-verification bill that requires any site with 33.3% “material harmful to minors” to verify the age and identity of every visitor. The bill also bans minors under the age of 14 from having social media accounts – effectively requiring age-verification of any Floridian with a social media account. The bill goes into effect on January 1, 2025.

Free Speech Coalition opposed HB3 when it was introduced and will work to fight this deeply unconstitutional bill with our workers, businesses and allies, just as we have with similar bills. We strongly believe that protecting minors online is a worthy goal, but forcing hundreds of millions of adults to sacrifice their anonymity is neither warranted nor justifiable.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be talking with our members and allies about next steps in Florida and other states. This is not a fight we asked for, but it’s a fight we will win.