Florida is considering a law that would ban people under 16 years old from making accounts on some sorts of platforms, if they have addictive design features.

The law says this applies if a social media platform "utilizes addictive, harmful, or deceptive design features, or any other feature that is designed to cause an account holder to have an excessive or compulsive need to use or engage with the social media platform."

It is going to be hard for courts to decide what sites that law does or doesn't apply to.

Such dis-services are unjust, and harmful to people of any age. I would suggest simply prohibiting such features.

Like many others, I am concerned that this law will result in a requirement for users to identify themselves, for age verification. There are systems which make it possible to verify someone's age without being able to learn per identity -- GNU Taler can be used that way. But we can't take for granted that the platforms will implement it that way.