Politics
The device filtering mirage — why mandated content controls fall short
Across state capitals, including in Tallahassee, legislators face the pressing question of digital safety. Parents — the primary guardians of their teenagers well-being — rightfully seek assurance that their teens can benefit from modern technology while avoiding inappropriate content on smartphones and tablets.
Yet among the array of proposed safeguards, device-level filtering emerges as a well-intentioned but problematic approach that promises more than it can deliver.
This strategy, mandating manufacturer-installed content restrictions, has been rejected in numerous legislatures for good reason. Not merely because of implementation challenges, but because it represents a fundamental shift from relying on parents’ judgment to Silicon Valley’s judgment while simultaneously undermining the market’s demonstrated capacity to provide diverse solutions to complex problems.
On its face, device filtering legislation dangles a seductively simple solution before lawmakers. Its advocates — armed with righteous indignation and often lacking technological savvy — contend that device manufacturers need merely “flip a switch” to activate latent filtering capabilities already embedded within our devices. This argument, while rhetorically compelling, collapses under even modest scrutiny.
True, our devices come equipped with rudimentary filtering technology — a fact proponents brandish as evidence that their demands impose no burden on manufacturers.
However, this argument shows a fundamental misunderstanding of how filters function. The built-in filters that device-mandate proponents eagerly cite operate exclusively within the walled gardens of native web browsers. They stand powerless — utterly impotent — against the torrent of harmful content flowing through third-party browsers or the vast ecosystem of mobile applications that constitute the modern digital experience.
This is not a minor technical distinction but a fatal flaw that renders this particular legislative approach a hollow performance of protection rather than one of substance — the worst kind of regulatory theater that combines maximum governmental intrusion with minimum effectiveness while offering parents a false sense of security instead of genuine solutions.
Perhaps most concerning, these mandates would transfer content decisions from Florida families to Silicon Valley boardrooms — all under the child protection banner.
These proposals don’t merely face technical challenges; they fundamentally shift authority by undermining parental discretion and outsourcing content decisions to distant tech executives whose priorities and perspectives often differ significantly from those of many Florida families.
In a world where device filters become law, technology executives would become the arbiters of what constitutes “harmful” or “age-inappropriate” — not parents.
This arrangement would significantly diminish parental autonomy, centralizing crucial developmental decisions in the hands of companies whose values may not reflect Florida’s diverse communities’ values or cultural sensibilities. Our democratic tradition has long recognized that those closest to children — their parents — not distant corporate entities or government are best positioned to guide their development.
Device filtering legislation challenges this principle, potentially inserting Silicon Valley’s judgment when lawmakers should reaffirm the authority of parents across the Sunshine State.
Device filtering mandates also raise concerns about their impact on the thriving market of existing solutions. Across Florida today, a flourishing ecosystem of filtering solutions—developed through innovation and shaped by parental demand — offers families an impressive array of digital protection options tailored to their specific values and concerns.
Religious parents can select software that shields their children not only from age-inappropriate content but also from material that conflicts with their faith traditions. Secular families can choose tools calibrated to block harmful content without imposing faith-based restrictions. Still, others might prioritize filtering references to substances or behaviors they deem inappropriate for their particular child’s development stage.
This diversity of options — thousands of solutions competing in a vibrant marketplace — represents technological innovation responding directly to family needs. By mandating standardized filtering at the device level, legislators would undermine the very innovation ecosystem that has produced increasingly sophisticated and customizable protection tools.
A government mandate might weaken the market forces that have guided developers to create more effective filtering solutions. This could potentially reduce the competitive pressures that drive innovation and leave families with fewer, not more, effective options for protecting their children according to their own values and priorities.
For legislators and parents grappling with the challenge of shielding teenagers from digital dangers, mandated device filtering presents a seemingly elegant solution — a technological panacea promising to safeguard young minds with minimal effort.
However, as with many policy proposals that promise simple fixes to complex social problems, this approach conceals significant flaws beneath its appealing veneer.
Were Florida to embrace such mandates, it would not only create a dangerous illusion of protection for parents but would effectively outsource critical child-rearing decisions to distant Silicon Valley boardrooms while simultaneously undermining the diverse ecosystem of customizable filtering tools that parents currently use to align digital boundaries with their specific family values.
The proposal ultimately offers no genuine protection but a Potemkin village of safety—impressive in facade but empty of substance.
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Dr. Edward Longe is the national strategy director at the Center for Technology and Innovation at The James Madison Institute.
The Senate unanimously approved a bill that criminalizes anyone in the state who falsely uses or exploits military insignias, medals or uniforms.
Port Orange Republican Sen. Tom Wright sponsored the “stolen valor” bill (SB 402). The intent of the measure is to consolidate all military branches into one single classification as a “military uniform.”
A Senate staff background report said the measure ensures that all branches of armed forces are listed in each provision of statutes. A person could already be charged with a third-degree felony if found guilty of committing “stolen valor.”
As the proposed measure worked its way through the Senate committee process before going to the floor, Wright had said the instances of “stolen valor” have been increasing in Florida in recent years.
Wright even recounted incidents in the area around Port Orange where he had business owners complain to him where people falsely dressed up as military veterans in order to conduct bogus charitable fundraisers. Wright said some store managers have chased the fake veterans off business grounds on several occasions.
Ultimately, Wright said serving in the military is a distinguished accomplishment. He said that should not be taken advantage of by anyone who has not served.
“We have to protect the sanctity of the uniform and make sure they are represented correctly,” Wright said.
While Senators did not hesitate to back the bill, the issue is not quite done with the legislative process yet.
Wright’s bill is similar to another Senate bill (SB 348) that would specifically target public officials from using stolen valor in their official capacity if elected or while running a campaign.
Sens. Jay Collins, a Tampa Republican, and Don Gaetz, a Pensacola Republican, cosponsored the bill, which institutes ethics violations for candidates or elected officials who engage in stolen valor. Violation of that measure, if approved, could include censure by the Florida Board of Ethics, a $25,000 fine and possible removal from office by the Governor. That measure has also received preliminary approval by several Senate committees.
In the House, Rep. Patt Maney, a Fort Walton Beach Republican, has sponsored a bill (HB 399) which is similar to that Senate measure. It hasn’t gone to the House floor yet.
With a slender majority in the House of Representatives hanging in the balance, President Donald Trump spent part of Major League Baseball’s opening day as the closer in two Special Elections on April Fool’s Day.
And while Democrats Gay Valimont and Josh Weil were lightly regarded as the General Elections began, the President made it clear that they were no joke, as he rallied Republicans to turn out for CFO Jimmy Patronis and state Sen. Randy Fine, the Republican candidates in Congressional Districts 1 and 6 respectively.
While Mike Waltz and Matt Gaetz won the seats handily in November, the landscape has changed since they resigned after last year’s elections.
Democrats have poured millions of dollars behind their candidates, and two Republicans accustomed to resource advantages from bell to bell ended up tagging Trump in at the end Thursday night.
On behalf of Patronis, Trump noted the “all-important Special Election” is “five days away on April Fools’ Day, and the fool will be the Democratic candidate … a radical-left gun grabber (who) will vote with Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, and AOC+3.”
“The whole country’s actually watching this one,” Trump said. “Jimmy’s got a big lead in the polls, but we’ve got to make it too big to rig.”
“If you’re not fired up hearing President Trump, you need to get your pulse checked,” Patronis said, before lamenting more than $6 million behind Valimont from out-of-state supporters who think people on the Florida Panhandle are “racist” and “sexist.”
“They hate our American flag, and they hate President Donald Trump,” he added, before asking the “100,000 people on the call” to give him a follow on X.
Fine, who polling says holds a margin of error lead over Weil, thanked the “tens of thousands of voters” on the tele-rally and Trump for his “unwavering support.”
“It will be the greatest honor of my life to be one of your foot soldiers,” Fine said.
Trump noted he won CD 6 big.
“I love you and you love me, and that’s good … but I’m asking you to get out and vote for a true American patriot, someone I know very well, Randy Fine.”
Trump said Fine endorsed him “early” in the 2024 cycle, and will “be there whenever I need him.”
The President promised to “slash the costs of insurance in Florida,” though it’s uncertain how that will happen.
Trump then painted Weil as a “radical left lunatic” who “wanted men playing in women’s sports.”
“Randy’s running against the radical socialist who wants the government to run your healthcare. Randy’s Democrat opponent supports the transgender for everybody, the mutilation included, mutilation of children. He wants to spend $20 trillion on so-called reparations. You’re not gonna get any, but a lot of people, he wants to give them reparations. He wants to remove all of the sanctions on communist Cuba and socialist Venezuela and he wants to decriminalized heroin, fentanyl and cocaine and we have enough problems with drugs without having to do that,” he said.
Trump said he’d seen Fine in “pressure situations,” and contended “he’s done well under pressure.”
Fine then put his closing argument on the President, saying Trump’s “legacy is on the ballot.”
On another busy day of politics in Tallahassee, lawmakers could catch an unexpected break with an illusionist’s tricks, robots, a flight simulator, Legos and more on the Capitol’s third-floor rotunda.
This was part of the annual STEM day as educators lobbying for more state funding showed off their technology and exhibits that make learning fun.
“Orlando Science Center has joined with other science museums and STEM advocates to connect with legislators about the critical role that science centers and museums play in creating prosperity for our state,” said OSC marketing vice president Jeff Stanford.
“Displays at STEM Day encourage hands-on learning and reinforce how science museums light the spark of curiosity, promote future careers and build essential 21st century skills.”
“As our world continues to grow more complex and competitive, we are reminded that science matters now more than ever,” Stanford added.
STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math.
OSC, known for its dinosaurs and hands-on play areas, first organized STEM Day in 2014, but this year’s event comes after an unprecedented time of funding cuts for museums and science centers.
OSC was among a long list of organizations losing funding after Gov. Ron DeSantis’ unprecedented $32 million in line-item vetoes last year.
In Tallahassee, OSC brought in magician and science educator Jason Latimer, who has appeared on the Discovery Channel. OSC organized a “Legislative Record Breaker Challenge” using tennis balls and domino stacking. In addition, lawmakers, staff and interns could play with hands-on displays and learn about the life cycle of coral in between Thursday’s committee hearings and floor votes.
Stanford said this year’s event was presented by the Environmental Defense Fund. The other partnering science centers and STEM supporters joining included: Challenger Learning Center, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), Phillip & Patricia Frost Museum of Science, Museum of Discovery and Science, National MagLab, Science is US/American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Tallahassee Museum.
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