Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Trump Says Many Are Starving in Gaza, Vows to Set up Food Centers

3 hours ago

California Governor Candidate Stirs Outrage With Auschwitz ‘Unemployment Plan’ Post

4 hours ago

Gold Price to Stay Above $3,000/Oz as Flight to Safety Endures

5 hours ago

Trump Warns Iran That Its Nuclear Sites Could Be Bombed Again

5 hours ago

Israel Announces Daily Pauses in Gaza Fighting as Aid Airdrops Begin

1 day ago

California School Board Resigns After Audit Reveals $180M in Improper Funding

2 days ago

A First Look at Fresno State’s Quarterback Battle

3 days ago
Utah Social Media Law Means Kids Need Approval From Parents
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 years ago on
March 24, 2023

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

SALT LAKE CITY — Children and teens in Utah would lose access to social media apps such as TikTok if they don’t have parental consent and face other restrictions under a first-in-the-nation law designed to shield young people from the addictive platforms.

Two laws signed by Republican Gov. Spencer Cox Thursday prohibit kids under 18 from using social media between the hours of 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m., require age verification for anyone who wants to use social media in the state and open the door to lawsuits on behalf of children claiming social media harmed them. Collectively, they seek to prevent children from being lured to apps by addictive features and from having ads promoted to them.

The companies are expected to sue before the laws take effect in March 2024.

The crusade against social media in Utah’s Republican-supermajority Legislature is the latest reflection of how politicians’ perceptions of technology companies has changed, including among typically pro-business Republicans.

Tech giants like Facebook and Google have enjoyed unbridled growth for over a decade, but amid concerns over user privacy, hate speech, misinformation and harmful effects on teens’ mental health, lawmakers have made Big Tech attacks a rallying cry on the campaign trail and begun trying to rein them in once in office. Utah’s law was signed on the same day TikTok’s CEO testified before Congress about, among other things, the platform’s effects on teenagers’ mental health.

But legislation has stalled on the federal level, pushing states to step in.

Outside of Utah, lawmakers in red states including Arkansas, Texas, Ohio and Louisiana and blue states including New Jersey are advancing similar proposals. California, meanwhile, enacted a law last year requiring tech companies to put kids’ safety first by barring them from profiling children or using personal information in ways that could harm children physically or mentally.

Details of the New Law

The new Utah laws also require that parents be given access to their child’s accounts. They outline rules for people who want to sue over harms they claim the apps cause. If implemented, lawsuits against social media companies involving kids under 16 will shift the burden of proof and require social media companies show their products weren’t harmful — not the other way around.

Social media companies could have to design new features to comply with parts of the laws that prohibit promoting ads to minors and showing them in search results. Tech companies like TikTok, Snapchat and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, make most of their money by targeting advertising to their users.

The wave of legislation and its focus on age verification has garnered pushback from technology companies as well as digital privacy groups known for blasting their data collection practices.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation earlier this month demanded Cox veto the Utah legislation, saying time limits and age verification would infringe on teens’ rights to free speech and privacy. Moreover, verifying every users’ age would empower social media platforms with more data, like the government-issued identification required, they said.

If the law is implemented, the digital privacy advocacy group said in a statement, “the majority of young Utahns will find themselves effectively locked out of much of the web.”

Lobbyists for the Tech Industry Say Law Infringes on Rights

Tech industry lobbyists decried the laws as unconstitutional, saying they infringe on people’s right to exercise the First Amendment online.

“Utah will soon require online services to collect sensitive information about teens and families, not only to verify ages, but to verify parental relationships, like government-issued IDs and birth certificates, putting their private data at risk of breach,” said Nicole Saad Bembridge, an associate director at NetChoice, a tech lobby group.

What’s not clear in Utah’s new law and those under consideration elsewhere is how states plan to enforce the new regulations. Companies are already prohibited from collecting data on children under 13 without parental consent under the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. To comply, social media companies already ban kids under 13 from signing up to their platforms — but children have been shown to easily get around the bans, both with and without their parents’ consent.

Cox said studies have shown that time spent on social media leads to “poor mental health outcomes” for children.

“We remain very optimistic that we will be able to pass not just here in the state of Utah but across the country legislation that significantly changes the relationship of our children with these very destructive social media apps,” he said.

The New Laws Win Support from Parents and Child Advocate Groups

The set of laws won support from parents groups and child advocates, who generally welcomed them, with some caveats. Common Sense Media, a nonprofit focused on kids and technology, hailed the effort to rein in social media’s addictive features and set rules for litigation, with its CEO saying it “adds momentum for other states to hold social media companies accountable to ensure kids across the country are protected online.”

However, Jim Steyer, the CEO and founder of Common Sense, said giving parents access to children’s social media posts would “deprive kids of the online privacy protections we advocate for.” Age verification and parental consent may hamper kids who want to create accounts on certain platforms, but does little to stop companies from harvesting their data once they’re on, Steyer said.

The laws are the latest effort from Utah lawmakers focused on the fragility of children in the digital age. Two years ago, Cox signed legislation that called on tech companies to automatically block porn on cellphones and tablets sold in the state, after arguments about the dangers it posed to children found resonance among Utah lawmakers, the majority of whom are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Amid concerns about enforcement, lawmakers ultimately revised that legislation to prevent it from taking effect unless five other states passed similar laws.

The regulations come as parents and lawmakers are growing increasingly concerned about kids and teenagers’ social media use and how platforms like TikTok, Instagram and others are affecting young people’s mental health. The dangers of social media to children is also emerging as a focus for trial lawyers, with addiction lawsuits being filed thorughout the country.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Senator to Unveil Aviation Safety Bill on Eve of Fatal Crash Hearing

DON'T MISS

Fox Business News Host Throws Shade at Merced Over High-Speed Rail

DON'T MISS

Trump Says He Turned Down Invitation to Epstein’s Island

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Sentenced to 7.5 Years for Role in Opioid Trafficking Scheme

DON'T MISS

Two Killed in Shooting at Nevada Casino, Local Media Reports

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Arrest Three, Recover Thousands in Stolen Goods During Search Warrant

DON'T MISS

Tulare County Wildfire Advisory Issued Near Lake Kaweah

DON'T MISS

Spirit Airlines to Furlough 270 Pilots, Demote 140 More on Downsized Schedule

DON'T MISS

Fresno’s Mission Thrift Has Its Third Fire in Recent Weeks

DON'T MISS

Multiple People Shot in Nevada Casino, AP Reports

UP NEXT

Trump Says He Turned Down Invitation to Epstein’s Island

UP NEXT

Multiple People Shot in Nevada Casino, AP Reports

UP NEXT

US Judge Blocks Trump-Backed Medicaid Cuts to Planned Parenthood

UP NEXT

California Governor Candidate Stirs Outrage With Auschwitz ‘Unemployment Plan’ Post

UP NEXT

Trump Asks for Swift Deposition of Murdoch in Epstein Defamation Case

UP NEXT

Democratic North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper Launches US Senate Bid

UP NEXT

3 Men Who Disappeared While Fishing in Mississippi River Are Found Dead

UP NEXT

Trump Warns Iran That Its Nuclear Sites Could Be Bombed Again

UP NEXT

Trump, EU’s Von Der Leyen to Meet on Sunday to Clinch Trade Deal

UP NEXT

Trump Golfs in Scotland as Epstein Questions Persist

Fresno Man Sentenced to 7.5 Years for Role in Opioid Trafficking Scheme

50 minutes ago

Two Killed in Shooting at Nevada Casino, Local Media Reports

1 hour ago

Fresno Police Arrest Three, Recover Thousands in Stolen Goods During Search Warrant

1 hour ago

Tulare County Wildfire Advisory Issued Near Lake Kaweah

1 hour ago

Spirit Airlines to Furlough 270 Pilots, Demote 140 More on Downsized Schedule

2 hours ago

Fresno’s Mission Thrift Has Its Third Fire in Recent Weeks

2 hours ago

Multiple People Shot in Nevada Casino, AP Reports

3 hours ago

Trump Says Many Are Starving in Gaza, Vows to Set up Food Centers

3 hours ago

US Judge Blocks Trump-Backed Medicaid Cuts to Planned Parenthood

3 hours ago

Thailand and Cambodia Approve Ceasefire After Five-Day Border Battle

3 hours ago

Senator to Unveil Aviation Safety Bill on Eve of Fatal Crash Hearing

WASHINGTON — The chair of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee will introduce broad aviation safety legislation on Tuesday on the eve of a thr...

2 minutes ago

.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) looks on during a U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing on the midair collision involving American Airlines 5342 and a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) on January 29, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 27, 2025. (Reuters File)
2 minutes ago

Senator to Unveil Aviation Safety Bill on Eve of Fatal Crash Hearing

4 minutes ago

Fox Business News Host Throws Shade at Merced Over High-Speed Rail

A building is seen at Little St. James Island, one of the properties of financier Jeffrey Epstein, near Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands August 17, 2019. (Reuters File)
15 minutes ago

Trump Says He Turned Down Invitation to Epstein’s Island

A U.S. Justice Department logo or seal showing Justice Department headquarters, known as "Main Justice," is seen behind the podium in the Department's headquarters briefing room before a news conference with the Attorney General in Washington, January 24, 2023. (Reuters File)
50 minutes ago

Fresno Man Sentenced to 7.5 Years for Role in Opioid Trafficking Scheme

Photo of caution tape
1 hour ago

Two Killed in Shooting at Nevada Casino, Local Media Reports

Fresno police are seeking two suspects who stole several boxes of shoes from the WSS store on East Cesar Chavez Boulevard on February 20, 2025.
1 hour ago

Fresno Police Arrest Three, Recover Thousands in Stolen Goods During Search Warrant

Fire officials issued an advisory Monday for a wildland fire near Lake Kaweah in Tulare County, urging residents in zone TLC-E084 to stay informed, though no evacuation order is in place. (Genasys)
1 hour ago

Tulare County Wildfire Advisory Issued Near Lake Kaweah

A Spirit commercial airliner prepares to land at San Diego International Airport in San Diego, California, U.S., January 18, 2024. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

Spirit Airlines to Furlough 270 Pilots, Demote 140 More on Downsized Schedule

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend