Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida

Amid a debate about the role of government and parental rights, the Florida Senate on Thursday passed a bill that seeks to keep children under the age of 16 off social media platforms.

The Florida Senate is ready Thursday to pass a high-profile bill that seeks to prevent children under age 16 from creating accounts on what lawmakers say are “addictive” social-media platforms.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 7-2 to approve a bill (SB 1788) that is similar to a measure (HB 1) that passed the House last month and is a priority of House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast.

The Florida House is poised to pass a bill aimed at preventing children under age 16 from using social media, as parts of the tech industry argue the measure could be unconstitutional and create data-privacy concerns.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ State of the State address was about Florida’s future.

A House Republican from Northeast Florida on Thursday renewed an attempt to lower the minimum age from 21 to 18 for people to buy rifles and other long guns in Florida, potentially reversing part of a law that passed in the aftermath of the 2018 mass shooting at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Lawyers representing Black voters told a three-judge federal panel that Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis violated the U.S. Constitution by deliberately dismantling a congressional district that favored Black candidates.

As efforts continued to sort out damage from Hurricane Idalia, regulators on Friday approved proposals by seven private insurers to pull as many as 202,000 policies from the state’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp.

An administrative law judge has sided with bars in Tampa and Orlando after the Florida Department of Health last year tried to block dogs from being in the establishments.

During a news conference in Jacksonville on Wednesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said, “We’re bracing for some turbulent times ahead,” as he signed an immigration bill passed by the Florida Legislature during the recently ended session.

At a news conference Wednesday morning in Jupiter, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that will increase regulations on pharmacy benefit managers.

After an appeals court upheld the murder conviction and life sentence of Michael Haim in 2021, his new attorneys have filed another motion for post-conviction relief, saying he should get a new trial because of ineffective counsel in his first one.