Web Desk
The governor of the US state of Utah has signed a sweeping social media bill that will require young people to obtain the consent of a guardian before joining social media platforms, marking the most aggressive step yet by state or federal lawmakers to protect kids online.
By signing this bill, Utah has become the first state in the nation to begin restricting how children and teens can use social media apps, like TikTok and Instagram. Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed a pair of bills on Thursday that will regulate when and how children in the state can use social media and aim to stop those companies from designing addicting features.
The bill restricts children aged under 18 to lose access to social media apps if they don’t have parental consent and face other restrictions under a first-in-the-nation law designed to shield children and teens from addictive platforms.
Under the bill, titled Utah Social Media Regulation Act, social media platforms will have to conduct age verification for all Utah residents, ban all ads for minors and impose a curfew, making their sites off limits between the hours of 10.30 pm to 6:30 am for children below the age of 18. The bill will also require social platforms to give parents access to their children’s accounts.
The state lawmakers passed the measure despite opposition from tech industry groups and civil liberties experts. The new law will likely lead to a protracted legal fight with the tech industry over privacy and First Amendment issues.
The tech industry representatives condemned the bill as unconstitutional, saying it infringes 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,” Nicole Saad Bembridge, an associate director at NetChoice, reportedly said.
On the other hand, Utah lawmakers have termed the bill a step in the right direction.
“We’re no longer willing to let social media companies continue to harm the mental health of our youth,” Cox, a Republican, said in a message on Twitter.
“This is something that is killing our kids,” Cox, who is one of the most prolific users of Twitter in Utah’s political sphere, told reporters at a March 16 news conference. “It’s the addictive qualities of social media that are intentionally being placed by these companies to get our kids addicted, and they know it’s harming them.”
The rules under the bill include:
- Age verification for all users before they can open or maintain an account.
- Permission from parents before a minor can open a social media account.
- Restricts minors’ use of social media from 10:30 pm to 6:30 am unless a parent changes those settings. The platforms must also ensure that children are unable to bypass those restrictions.
- Give parents the ability to access a minor’s account, including all posts and private messages.
Limits what personal information a social media platform can collect from minors.
