Utah Gov. signs laws requiring parental consent for minors to use social media
Source: NBC News
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed two pieces of sweeping social media regulation into law Thursday that require social media companies to get parental consent for minors using their services, making Utah the first state to impose such measures in the U.S.
Versions of the regulations are being considered in four other states and in several federal proposals in Congress.
The new Utah laws H.B. 311 and S.B. 152 require that social media companies verify the age of any Utah resident who makes a social media profile and get parental consent for any minor who wishes to make a profile. It also forces social media companies to allow parents to access posts and messages from their childs account.
The laws also prohibit social media companies from displaying ads to minors, showing minor accounts in search results, collecting information about minors, targeting or suggesting content to minors, or knowingly integrating addictive technologies into social media apps used by minors. They also impose a curfew on the use of social media for minors, locking them out of their social media accounts between 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. based on the location of a users device, unless adjusted with the consent of a parent.
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/utah-gov-signs-laws-requiring-parental-consent-for-minors-to-use-social-media/ar-AA190giZ
The party of small government
machoneman
(3,994 posts)Richard D
(8,737 posts). . . will never figure out ways around this. hahahahaha.
SouthernDem4ever
(6,617 posts)How do they plan to enforce this?
mpcamb
(2,868 posts)LoisB
(7,165 posts)This is not like some 20 year-old trying to buy liquor at the store.
machoneman
(3,994 posts)parent about these issues in advance? Old white men long past any child rearing (as if they lifted one fucking finger to help Mom)?
Tetrachloride
(7,800 posts)talk about clickbait
OAITW r.2.0
(24,255 posts)Another wishful thinking law brought to you by the Party that thinks creating laws without a way to enforce them solves a problem.
SouthernDem4ever
(6,617 posts)sadasfyed
(71 posts)Kids have ways around such things....Bueller.....Bueller
NYC Liberal
(20,134 posts)LudwigPastorius
(9,087 posts)(probably AOL chat rooms)
I guarantee you that most kids are using apps that these jabronis have never even heard of.
patphil
(6,142 posts)Social Media access should be in the hands of the parents, not the state.
Add in all the book bans and curriculum restrictions and you have an excellent groundwork for mind control.
leftyladyfrommo
(18,861 posts)lives. They won't see anything wrong with it.
Lonestarblue
(9,958 posts)But no laws regulating guns. These people have lost their minds!
DFW
(54,268 posts)Guns, when used as intended by their manufacturers, prevent people from breathingpermanently.
Grins
(7,181 posts)Without which - its just Reich-wing theatre.
AZLD4Candidate
(5,639 posts)Good luck enforcing this.
littlemissmartypants
(22,526 posts)
Critics of the laws say that they are a form of government overreach that will have effects outside the borders of the state.
Theres no way for a platform to know who is or isnt a full-time Utah resident, said Ari Cohn, free speech counsel for the tech policy think tank TechFreedom. Cohn said its unfeasible to think that social media companies could parse out Utah residents from visitors to the state, or nearby users connecting to the internet via cellphone data networks.
The only way the platforms can ensure full compliance will be by actually age verifying everyone, he said. And thats the problem with the state-level bills like this, is that they basically regulate the internet for everyone.
Cohn added that age verification poses a major risk for security and speech online. Age verifying everyone means you no longer have an ability to be anonymous online on social media, he said. Think about all the ways that social media is used to criticize powerful people, elected officials, tyrannical governments, or what have you, without fear of retribution.
Cohn also noted that not every child lives in a nurturing household, and that allowing parents access to kids social media history could lead to potential abuse. The policies, Cohn said, could even create equity issues by potentially locking kids out whose parents arent readily available to provide consent.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/utah-gov-signs-laws-requiring-parental-consent-for-minors-to-use-social-media/ar-AA190giZ
And what are emancipated minors supposed to do?
If Teuscher is truly concerned about mental health he'd have spent all the wasted energy he spent on this nonsense, on working to improve access to services for everyone in his state. Social media has become just another one of the boogie men du jour and will most likely exacerbate mental health issues.
3825-87867
(835 posts)now they decide that minors have no constitutional right to free speech.
But guns...1
SomewhereInTheMiddle
(280 posts)Last edited Fri Mar 24, 2023, 08:50 AM - Edit history (1)
The laws also prohibit social media companies from displaying ads to minors, showing minor accounts in search results, collecting information about minors, targeting or suggesting content to minors, or knowingly integrating addictive technologies into social media apps used by minors. They also impose a curfew on the use of social media for minors, locking them out of their social media accounts between 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. based on the location of a users device, unless adjusted with the consent of a parent.
I have to admit, I would not mind these restrictions/protections on my social media, and I am an adult. If this law goes through and is implemented well, I might try to create a "minor" account just to avoid the ads, tracking, and manipulative tech.
But the chances of it being implemented well are small.
I am not supporting the Utah law. I don't know enough about it to have much of an opinion. But this discussion brings up pertinent questions.
What rights do parents have to monitor/restrict their kids content consumption/production and online associations? What rights do kids have to privacy in their communications and online activities? At what age are kids aware enough and responsible enough to make informed decisions that can affect their mental and physical wellbeing? What sort of tools should a parent have to help in this?
My kids are in their twenties, so I am beyond this stage. I tried to work with them to make responsible decisions when they were teens online, but don't know if I succeeded.
Taking the Blue/Red origins of the proposal out of the picture, I wonder what the best ways are to address the possible dangers of social media for children and teens.
MayReasonRule
(1,460 posts)Education is what can be done.
truthisfreedom
(23,138 posts)You can see it all over their actions. Regulating drag shows, libraries and uteruses instead of banks, railroads and child labor. Its a form of mental illness.
twodogsbarking
(9,654 posts)Bayard
(21,987 posts)How are they going to VERIFY the age of all their users? Submit a birth certificate? Drivers license?