Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed into law on Thursday two pieces of sweeping social media regulation that require social media companies to obtain parental consent for minors using their services, giving Utah the U.S. It became the first state to implement such measures in the U.S.
Versions of the rules are being considered in four other states and in several federal proposals in Congress.
New Utah Law – H.B. 311 and S.B. 152 – Require that social media companies verify the age of any Utah resident who creates a social media profile and obtain parental consent for any minor who wishes to create a profile. They also force social media companies to allow parents to access posts and messages from their child’s accounts.
The law prohibits social media companies from serving ads to minors, showing minor accounts in search results, collecting information about minors, targeting or suggesting content to minors, or intentionally causing addiction in social media apps used by minors to prevent the integration of technologies. They also impose a curfew on social media use for minors, locking them out of their social media accounts between 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. Based on the user’s device location, unless adjusted with parental consent.
Utah’s laws come amid an ongoing debate about the impact of social media on young people’s mental health, a link that is widely theorized but remains the subject of academic study. Mental health issues among young people have been labeled a crisis, with particular concerns about the mental health of young women.
Social media companies have until March 1, 2024, to comply with the laws, at which point they become punishable with possible civil and criminal penalties.
In interviews with NBC News, the sponsors of the legislation said they were inspired by mental health concerns arising from social media use among young people, and they hope Utah’s new law serves as an inspiration to other states or Congress. Will work in
“I don’t think we’ve ever seen a time in American history where mental health has been so problematic,” said Utah state Sen. Michael McKell. “I expect we’ll see action across the country.”
McKell said the Utah bills were house-made legislation developed in a working group during the past year.
State Rape. Jordan Teuscher, who co-sponsored one of the Utah bills, said the group heard from representatives and lobbyists for major social media companies like Google and TikTok.
“As you can imagine, the social media companies hired almost all the major lobbyists in Utah to try to influence the bill,” he said. “They weren’t very successful in separating us from our objectives.”
In a statement, a Meta spokesperson said: “We want teens to be safe online. We’ve developed over 30 tools to support teens and families, including tools that help parents and teens stay safe on Instagram.” work together to limit the time teens spend on Instagram, and age verification technology that helps teens have an age-appropriate experience. When they join Instagram, we verify teen accounts automatically set to private, and we send regular notifications encouraging them to take breaks. “We’re working closely with experts, policymakers, and parents on these important issues,” the spokesperson will continue.”
Critics of the laws say they are a form of government overreach that would have effects beyond state borders.
“There is no way for a platform to know who is or isn’t a full-time Utah resident,” said Ari Kohn, free speech counsel for tech policy think tank TechFreedom. Cohn said it is unlikely to think that social media companies could parse Utah residents as in-state visitors or nearby users connecting to the Internet via cellphone data networks.
“The only way the platform can ensure full compliance is by actually verifying the age,” he added. “And the problem with state-level bills like this is that they basically regulate the internet for everyone.”
Kohn said age verification is a huge risk to online security and speech.
“Verifying everyone’s age means you no longer have the ability to remain anonymous online on social media,” he said. “Think of all the ways social media is used to criticize powerful people, elected officials, tyrannical governments, or have you, without fear of retribution.”
Cohn also said that not every child lives in a foster home and that allowing parents to access children’s social media history could lead to potential abuse.
The policies could also create equity issues by potentially locking out children whose parents are not readily available to provide consent, Kohn said.
Teuscher said the idea of child mental health is not his priority.
“When we see the hockey stick rising in mental health issues, it’s the government’s role to play and say, ‘Hey, is there anything we can do to protect the health of our citizens, and especially the health of minors? need to be done,'” he said.
So far Utah is the only state that has passed such rules, potentially opening the door for social media companies to lock users out of the state if the companies are unwilling to comply.
Outside of Utah, legislation that includes parental consent for social media for some minors is being considered in four states: Ohio, Minnesota, Connecticut, and Arkansas.
There is currently no central organization providing draft language to states, so each state is considering slightly different rules that social media companies must follow. For example, many states will only require parental consent for children under the age of 16.
McKell said those potential differences may actually be a good thing.
“He will force Congress to come to the table,” he said.
There are two pieces of legislation currently in Congress that would restrict moderate access to social media. If signed into law, they would set minimum ages for social media use, without the option of parental consent.