Will Florida ban social media for minors?

Get the Point!

This week, the Florida House of Representatives passed a bill that seeks to limit social media access for children under the age of 16. When I read the tenets of the bill, the legal scholar in me had but one question: Does this proposed law infringe upon free speech rights per the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution?

It depends…

But as a father of a now teenage daughter, I found myself somewhat surprised that I wasn't instantly turned off by this legislation as I have been in recent years when Florida's Republican dominated legislature passed measures that limited the teaching of real Black History, peaceful assembly in the public square, and whether citizens can even "say gay"—let alone remain free to change their birth assigned gender. 

Still, to quote the Red Priests and Priestesses from the HBO hit series Game of Thrones, "the night is dark and full of terrors," particularly with regards to social media where our children are exposed each and every day to porn, predators, and perfidy that could harm their minds, bodies, and souls. 

But is it the government's role to protect children from viewing or reading objectionable material? Isn't that, ostensibly, the role of parents?

There's a reason that the Founding Fathers made the First Amendment #1, and that was because of their experiences as British Colonial subjects when the Crown sought to suppress free press, free thoughts, and the free expression of ideas. 

Now, in the 200 plus years since the Constitution was ratified, there have been scholars and jurists far wiser than I who have debated or issued rulings about "obscenity" and whether the same is protected free speech. But long before I ever took my first law school class, I was a young writer and community activist who understood the critical importance of being able to read what I wish, write what I will, and to peacefully protest my government!

Last Fall, as I watched the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and Penn squirm under Congressional questioning about free speech on their campuses in the wake of the latest Israeli-Hamas War, I was reminded once again why we must always take care to ensure that diverse points of view are allowed on campuses and in public squares because such, to me, is the key to real enlightenment. 

Former Harvard President Claudine Gay, along with her colleagues from M.I.T. and Penn, were easy prey Free Speech suppressors…

On a personal note, when I was a history major at Morehouse College from 1990-94, I was exposed to two works that MANY people abhor; Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler, and the movie Birth of a Nation by D.W. Griffith. As to the former, my reading the maniacal words of a then 34-year old Hitler helped me to better understand his warped mindset, one shaped by Germany's bitter defeat in World War I, and his decision to blame his adopted country's demise on Zionism and Jewish industrialists. Imagine, if you will, had the State of Georgia banned Mein Kampf from libraries and bookstores? Such, potentially, may have stifled my thoughts and those of my now rising generation of leaders who know demagogues and recognize genocide—like what's happening in Gaza right now—when we see it!

Likewise, while Griffith's Birth was a sickening display of anti-Black stereotypes, the film provides a clear idea of the “Lost Cause” mindset that many Southerners and Southern sympathizers held during the early 20th Century when former Union and Confederate soldiers were still very much alive and holding reunions at Gettysburg each year! In fact, the then President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, blithely remarked after his private viewing in the White House: "It's like writing history with lightning."

But it wasn't, Mr. Wilson—and my ability to watch Birth of a Nation helped me to better understand how historical lies, like his, can lead to historical facts, such as Jim Crow laws and lynchings, that still haunt Black people to this very day! 

So, suffice it to say that I'm a huge proponent of free speech, even when I find the speech personally objectionable!

In fact, when I think back on my years at Morehouse, perhaps THE best part of the experience was talking and debating all manner of topics literally ALL night long in the dorms, the cafeteria, or during forums on our campus or over at Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University, or Morris Brown College! Which is why I would not want anything (or anyone) to prevent my soon to be collegiate daughter from being able to listen to differing viewpoints—or expressing her own—all because one political persuasion wishes to ban the perspective of others. 

Several years ago, I was personally appalled during the Veteran's Day parade in Tallahassee when I saw that a group of Confederate reenactors were carrying the Rebel battle flag and handing out miniature flags along the parade route—even to some little Black children.

Circa November 2017, wanna be Confederates flying their traitorous symbols in Downtown Tallahassee, Florida also handed mini stars and bars out to kids along the parade route

While none was foolish enough to try and hand my then seven year old daughter one of those damnable flags, the part of me that holds the First Amendment sacrosanct realized that no matter how much I couldn't stand it, those wanna be Confederates had every right to march and hand out their paraphernalia—and I, as a parent, had every right to reject them, their ideology, and their pitiful little symbols of defeat!

My then 7-year old daughter and I took this selfie not long after my “don't try it” glare kept the Neo-Rebels from handing her a Confederate flag in 2017…

Today, I feel the same way about blocking children from social media; the First Amendment should prevent such laws from being enacted, but as a parent, I realize that there is some sick material on the Internet and that predators are lurking, thus, my role and the role of each parent to monitor and prevent our children from being victimized or exposed to mind numbing inanity that thwarts their intellectual growth!