Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has signed legislation outlining when children can have access to social media. Additionally, websites with sexually explicit material will need to use age verification to prevent children from accessing them.

This new law forbids any minor under the age of 14 from becoming a social media account holder. The law also allows parents to decide if their children between the ages of 14 and 15 can have their own social media accounts.

Beyond restricting children’s access to social media, this new law also allows Florida residents to remain anonymous online.

“Social media harms children in a variety of ways,” DeSantis said. “HB 3 gives parents a greater ability to protect their children. Thank you to Speaker Renner for delivering this landmark legislation.”

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Republican state House Speaker Paul Renner stressed the importance of HB 3, including how predators target younger social media users and a correlation between children who suffer from depression while using social media.

The move to restrict children from sexually explicit websites comes after other states, including Utah, Texas, and Virginia, have made similar moves against such websites. In the wake of these restrictions, online searches for virtual private networks in these states saw an uptick, as VPNs allow internet users to surf the internet while hiding their internet protocol, including their physical location.