DeSantis signs bill banning TikTok in Florida schools

ORLANDO, Fla. — After banning TikTok on college campuses earlier this year, on Tuesday Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill to ban the social media platform in grade school as well.

The bill gives schools more power to take away devices, as well as requiring new social media training for students.

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DeSantis said social media is putting students’ lives at risk.

While parents Channel 9 spoke with don’t believe the Chinese government is to blame, they don’t see the harm of keeping some social media sites away from students.

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“Let kids be normal kids like there were prior to social media,” DeSantis said.

Starting July 1, public schools will need to employ website filtering to prevent a student’s device from connecting to social media sites using district-owned computer servers and prohibits TikTok on district-owned devices.

The bill also states students must receive instruction on the social, emotional, and physical effects of social media, and gives teachers the authority to designate an area for wireless communications devices during instructional time.

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“I think they have every right when kids come in to say, ‘Check your phone in, leave it there, learn then get it after that.’ We don’t want kids on the phone the whole time while teachers are trying to teach,” DeSantis said.

The new law seeks to limit distractions in class, while also limiting what sites kids can access on school Wi-Fi amid concerns over security with sites like TikTok.

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Orange County already has a rule limiting phone use and says it will look into other ways to implement the law.

Osceola County said it’s still too early to comment.

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