Utah Gov. Spencer Cox is set to sign SB 152, the "social media regulation act," a bill that will restrict minors from social media use without parental permission. Legal adults—people 18 or older—could also lose access to their accounts if they don't follow an age verification process.
Axios reports that the bill passed final legislative barriers and that Cox said he would sign it, calling it Utah's way to hold "social media companies accountable for the damage that they are doing to our people." After the bill is signed, Utahns will be required to present proof of age in order to use social media beginning on March 1, 2024.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that SB 152 was sponsored by Republican State Sen. Mike McKell. Rep. Jordan D. Teuscher, also a Republican, brought it to the floor, where during House debate he said parents would be empowered by the legislation to have more say in what their kids do online. Others have expressed concerns, however, over the way bills like this impact online privacy. California TV station KGO interviewed San Jose State University professor and tech expert Ahmed Banafa, who said, "This bill is a censorship, that's the only thing I can name it, on the kids ability to get access to it."
Banafa expressed worries about how such measures could lead to undue exposure of personal information through platform hacks and also about how once such information is no longer under individual control, it will "be in the hands of corporate America, social media, all the platforms—they own it." And in that case, according to Banafa, the platforms "can do whatever they want for that without coming back to us. If they got caught, they'll just pay the fine and move on." Axios, however, notes that Utah's bill represents a "radical version" of ideas already under discussion in Washington, and says that a federal bill seeking the same restrictions would have a tough time passing at the national level.
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