Utah governor signs new laws requiring parental consent for under-18s to use social media

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Gov. Spencer Cox signs two regulation bills that limit when and where children can use social media during a ceremony at the Capitol building in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 23rd, 2023.
Social media companies have until March 1st, 2024, to comply with or appeal Utah’s new regulations. | Image: Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP

Utah has enacted controversial restrictions that will require minors to obtain the consent of a guardian to use social media platforms, the first US state to introduce such measures. Two laws signed by Governor Spencer Cox on ThursdayH.B. 311 and S.B. 152 — form part of the new Utah Social Media Regulation Act, aimed at protecting children from addictive features and targeted ads on social platforms.

The H.B. 311 bill prohibits social media companies from broadly “using a design or feature that causes a minor to have an addiction” to their platform and grants minor account holders the right to collect damages for addiction, physical, or emotional harm incurred as a result of using a social media platform. The S.B. 152 bill requires…

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