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Utah first state to pass social media regulations aimed at protecting minors

Gov. Spencer Cox signs two social media regulation bills during a ceremony at the Capitol building in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 23, 2023.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Gov. Spencer Cox signs two social media regulation bills during a ceremony at the Capitol building in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 23, 2023.

Gov. Spencer Cox, who signed the bills on Thursday, said the state is prepared for a legal fight over the tech company regulations.

Utah is the first state in the nation to begin restricting how minors can use social media apps. Gov. Spencer Cox signed a pair of bills on Thursday that will regulate when and how minors in Utah can use of social media and aims to stop those companies from designing addicting features.

Those new laws will likely lead to a protracted legal fight with the tech industry over privacy and First Amendment issues.

SB152 from Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, will slap several regulations on social media companies on March 1, 2024. Those rules 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.

Read full report here.