Florida’s Age Verification Law – Everything you must know

 In today’s digital age, minors have unprecedented access to the internet and social media, making them highly prone to cyberbullying, exposure to inappropriate content, and early access to age-restricted material. These risks can hinder a minor’s normal brain development, induce unwanted behavioral patterns, and even lead to lifelong trauma. Lawmakers, considering these factors, proposed and enacted the new Age Verification Law by which legislators aim to shield society’s most vulnerable members from the most uncensored content space i.e social media.

Background & Similar Legislation From Other US States

Since its inception, social media and the digital content space have been the subject of widespread debate concerning their positive and negative implications. While some argue that the positives outweigh the negatives, the question remains; do they really? Florida’s new state law, similar to Australia’s Age Verification Law of 2024, has adopted a similar stance, particularly from the perspective of protecting minors.

Previously, other US States have also developed and proposed similar age verification law bills such as South Carolina HB 3424 requiring platforms with one-third pornographic content to implement reasonable age verification methods and Georgia’ SB 351 which requires social media platforms to verify the age of users to prevent access by anyone under 16. Idaho H 498 and Nebraska NE LB 1092 are also similar initiatives.

Key Provisions of the Florida Age Verification Law

The new age verification law prohibits anyone under the age of 14 from creating a social media account. For minors aged 14-15, verified parental consent is required, with strict stipulations for the suspension or termination of any such accounts if violations are identified. Furthermore, non-compliance with these regulations could result in hefty fines of up to $50,000 per violation, with all violations classified under unfair trade practices.

The act defines harmful content for minors as “content that appeals to the prurient interest, depicts sexual conduct in a patently offensive way and lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.” To enforce this, the law applies to all websites where at least 33.3% of content falls under this definition, mandating these platforms to implement stringent “reasonable age verification systems”. It is now alarmingly easy to fake identity and age, allowing minors to bypass traditional age verification measures. This raises an essential point i.e the need for new and robust Age Verification Solutions that go beyond conventional methods to ensure compliance and security but the question here remains undefined by the legislation leading to more confusion as to what constitutes as a “reasonable” age verification system.

The Reasonable Method” for Age Verification 

With traditional age verification methods proving ineffective, are AI-driven Age Verification Solutions the answer? As most might argue that they offer a far more reliable and secure approach, or What is the “the reasonable method of detection” as encoded in the legislation?

While in the Florida Legislation a clear definition for “the reasonable” age verification method remains ambiguous we might find an answer to this in the UK’s “Ofcom Guidance on Highly Effective Age Assurance”. Following methods have been prescribed as being highly effective by Ofcom’s guidance:

1. Open Banking : This works by accessing the information a bank has on record regarding a user’s age, with the user’s consent.

2. Photo-ID Matching: This works by capturing relevant information from an uploaded photo-ID document and comparing it to an image of the user at the point of ID upload to verify that they are the same person.

3. Facial age estimation: This works by analysing the features of a user’s face to estimate their age. 

Florida Age Verification Law: Who Must Comply?

As the law enacts hefty fines of up to $50,000 per violation in case of non-compliance and risk being prone to other civil damages as well, it is important to stay updated to the period with compliance requirements and understanding this applies to who?

The law clearly stipulates adult content websites to implement age verification systems to restrict access by anyone under 18 and all social media platforms to integrate such systems and deny access to anyone under 14 years of age. Although the law is currently under challenge in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida and pursuant to the law’s enactment a popular adult media site halted all business and operations in the state of Florida along with filing the said challenge to the legislation in the district court, it still remains a relevant example of complying with what the laws provide as evidently and exemplary seen non compliance in all cases leads to loss of serious business.

Challenge of Privacy- What Is the Way Forward?

Despite their effectiveness, AI-powered Age Verification Solutions such as Facial Age Estimation come with certain challenges. Privacy concerns remain one of the primary issues, as users may be hesitant to provide biometric data. This requires companies to implement privacy focused verification tools such as On-premises solutions which process facial biometrics data locally, offer privacy preserving and non-invasive method of facial age estimation which store minimal personal information while ensuring security. Additionally,  while facial age estimation through facial biometrics is a robust method, it is imperative that technology is up to speed with the evolving threats i.e generative AI powered identity fraud. As AI powered deepfakes can spoof the system.

Another critical challenge is accuracy in AI models. AI-based Age Verification Software must be trained with diverse datasets to ensure fair and accurate age estimation across different demographics. Addressing these concerns is essential for making AI-powered biometric age verification a widely accepted and effective solution.

The Future of AI in Age Verification

Even with inherent challenges, AI-powered Age Verification Software remains the best solution available today. As the technology for manipulating identities and faking biometric data advances, so too must detection tools evolve at an unprecedented pace. Adherence with Florida’s Social Media Laws and age verification laws is not just a mere compliance requirement but a far more serious necessity. The integration of AI-powered biometric age verification laws represents itself as the most effective way forward in safeguarding young users from the dangers of the online world while ensuring a safer and more secure digital future for all.

In this rapidly growing space, AI-driven tools like FACIA stand out as the best line of defense against deteriorating reality perception. As the implementation of laws like Florida Age Verification Law spreads to other US states and nations, tools like FACIA will be instrumental in enforcing compliance.