Utah becomes first state to restrict youth access to social media platforms



On Thursday, Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox approved legislation that would limit access by young people to social media platforms, the first state-wide restriction of its kind.

Four other states are considering similar regulations on minors using social media.

The two laws order social media companies to confirm the age of any Utah resident signing up to a platform and also allows parents of underage social media users to have access to their posts and messages. Social media companies are restricted from capturing personal information from minors and targeting them.

The law also allows people to sue a social media platform if they suffer any damages from its use. Finally, the order restricts use of social media by young people between 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. unless a parent consents to adjust the ban.

Critics have accused social media companies of creating addictive algorithms to maximize use, especially by children and teenagers.

“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 about the new laws. “I hope we see action across the nation.”

A spokesperson for Meta, the parent company of Facebook, released a statement defending their practices.

“We want teens to be safe online. We’ve developed more than 30 tools to support teens and families, including tools that let parents and teens work together to limit the amount of time teens spend on Instagram, and age verification technology that helps teens have age-appropriate experiences," read the statement.

“We’ll continue to work closely with experts, policymakers and parents on these important issues," the spokesperson concluded.

Here's more about social media addiction:

The effects of social media on teenagers www.youtube.com

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New Texas bill would ban social media for children over concerns about mental health



A Texas state lawmaker has filed legislation that would ban social media for children under the age of 18 in order to alleviate depression and other ill effects of online use.

Republican State Rep. Jared Patterson of North Texas filed bill HB 896 which would require people to be at least 18 years old to sign into a social media platform.

Patterson compared social media to cigarettes, which were previously thought to be harmless but are now banned for children.

"Once thought to be perfectly safe for users, social media access to minors has led to remarkable rises in self-harm, suicide, and mental health issues," he explained.

Greg Sindelar, CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, praised Patterson for filing the law.

"The harms social media poses to minors are demonstrable not just in the internal research from the very social media companies that create these addictive products, but in the skyrocketing depression, anxiety, and even suicide rates we are seeing afflict children," said Sindelar.

"We are tremendously grateful for Rep. Jared Patterson’s leadership on keeping this precious population safe," he added, "and TPPF is fully supportive of prohibiting social media access to minors to prevent the perpetual harms of social media from devastating the next generation of Texans."

The law would require social media sites to verify a user's age with photo identification. It would also allow parents to request the removal of an account for their children.

Most social media sites require children to be at least 13 years old, but they don't require proof to verify age.

On Wednesday, Texas became the third state in the union to ban the use of the popular TikTok social media application by state employees and agencies over concerns about spying by the communist government of China. South Dakota and Maryland are the other two states to have banned TikTok.

Here's more about the social media ban law:

Texas Republican working on bill to ban minors from social mediawww.youtube.com