One of Florida's top Republican pollsters found a proposed social media ban is extremely unpopular with voters.
The Tyson Group found only 20% of voters support legislation (HB 1) that would prohibit the use of addictive social media platforms for Floridians under age 16. About 79% of voters support leaving any decisions on social media use to parents.
But for the most part, voters said they believe lawmakers have better things to do than regulate internet use.
"Voters in Florida continue to say that inflation, rising costs, and the economy in general are the most important issues facing the state. These issues make up nearly two-thirds of the issue grid in this sample," a polling memo reads. "Social media usage by minors did not emerge as a concern with the voters in our survey."
The poll was commissioned by the Citizen Awareness Project (CAP), which launched a digital campaign last week against the bill as written.
"While Florida lawmakers may have good intentions to protect our teens, this bill is an extreme government overreach that puts the government in control of parenting," reads a statement from CAP. "The bill's supporters have said this is 'common-sense' legislation. But there is nothing common sense about ignoring parental consent."
Pollsters surveyed 977 Florida likely voters, more than half of whom were parents or legal guardians and 32% of whom had children under the age of 18. The poll reports a margin of error of 3.14 percentage points.
Notably, the legislation appears slightly less popular with parents, 80% of whom oppose the bill.
The voting sample leaned Republican, with 39% of those surveyed registered GOP voters compared to 33% Democrats and 28% independents.
A look at the crosstabs for the bill shows that a social media ban for minors as unpopular regardless of voters' political persuasion. About 78% of Democrats oppose the bill, as do 74% of Republicans.
One curious note: A government ban on social media was less popular with older voters than younger ones. Among voters ages 18 to 29, about 67% support leaving the decision to parents and 33% support a ban. But among voters ages 55 to 64, just 9% support a ban and 91% favor leaving it to parents.
But across all ages and demographics, voters were opposed to the legislation by a nearly 2-to-1 margin or greater.
Of note, The Tyson Group served as the official pollster for Gov. Ron DeSantis' now-suspended presidential campaign. DeSantis voiced legal concerns about the bill, both about parental consent and forced age disclosure for all social media users, and said he cannot sign the bill unless those are addressed.
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