Utah State bans social media for kids

[JaiBalayyaaa]

In a ceremony on Thursday, Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox signed two bills regulating minors’ use of social media, denoting how important and significant he believes these two pieces of legislation are. Combined, the new laws call for social media platforms to verify all users’ ages. Those under 18 will have special rules for their online activity, including curfews; more privacy from advertisers but less from their parents or guardians; and the ability to sue platforms over certain harms, including addiction.

The laws are the first in the country to place such restrictions on kids’ usage of social media. They likely won’t be the last, however, as other states and the federal government are increasingly considering legal restrictions in the name of protecting minors as the potential for harm those platforms pose gets more attention. But opponents of such laws say they will have unintended consequences for the free speech and privacy of people of all ages.

Both laws, which are collectively known as the Social Media Regulation Act, are set to take effect on March 1, 2024. The first, SB 152, requires social media companies to verify the age of any Utah resident with an account on their services. Those under 18 will have to get their parent or guardian’s permission to sign up for an account and to access it at all between the hours of 10:30 pm and 6:30 am, and social media companies can’t advertise to or collect data on minors. The second, HB 311, requires social media companies to ensure that they are not designed to cause minors to become addicted to them, and gives Utah’s minors the right to sue social media companies if they believe they’ve become addicted to or otherwise somehow harmed by a social media platform they have an account on.

[JaiBalayyaaa]

Utah’s social media for kids law could be coming to a state near you

Utah’s strict new social media laws have some scary implications for the whole country.

[JaiBalayyaaa]

This is a good bill, Red States will be the first to implement these bills. Time to move to a red state if you have a teenage kid. 

[ZoomNaidu]