
Federal Judge Blocks State’s Child Internet Safety Law
By Movieguide® Contributor
A Utah law that would require age verification for social media and more stringent privacy settings for young users has been blocked from being enforced by a federal judge.
NetChoice, a nonprofit trade association working with social media companies like Meta, Snapchat, X and Google, challenged the law which was signed by the governor in March and was set to go into effect on Oct. 1. U.S. District Court Judge Robert Shelby ruled in favor of NetChoice, stating the law would violate First Amendment rights.
“The court recognizes the State’s earnest desire to protect young people from the novel challenges associated with social media uses,” Shelby wrote in his decision. “But owing to the First Amendment’s paramount place in our democratic system, even well-intentioned legislation that regulates speech based on content must satisfy a tremendously high level of constitutional scrutiny.”
“Utah’s law not only violates the First Amendment but if enforced would backfire and endanger the very people it’s meant to help,” Chris Marchese, director of the NetChoice Litigation Center, said after the ruling was announced. “We look forward to seeing this law, and others like it, permanently struck down and online speech and privacy fully protected across the country.”
Despite the setback, Utah lawmakers plan to continue fighting for child internet safety laws to shield their youth from the adverse effects of social media. While social media companies often argue they are doing everything they can to protect their users, Utah Governor Spencer Cox believes this isn’t true.
“Let’s be clear: social media companies could voluntarily, at this very moment, do everything that the law put in place to protect our children. But they refuse to do so,” Gov. Cox said. “Instead, they continue to prioritize their profits over our children’s wellbeing. This must stop, and Utah will continue to lead the fight.”
A different social media-based law is still set to go into effect in Utah at the start of October that will hold social media companies accountable for their impact on children. The law will allow parents to sue companies if their children’s mental health worsens from excessive use of algorithmically curated apps.
The basis for these laws and that social media is dangerous for children in general comes from decades of research linking the rise of these websites to the epidemic of mental health struggles across the country. Furthermore, the U.S. Surgeon General recommended a warning label on all social media at the start of the summer to better educate the public on the dangers of the tech.
Movieguide® previously reported:
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy recommended a surgeon general’s warning be applied to social media platforms as a constant reminder to users that the platforms have a profound negative effect on their health.
“The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency — and social media has emerged as an important contributor,” Murthy wrote in a recent New York Times piece. “Adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms, and the average daily use in this age group, as of the summer of 2023, was 4.8 hours. Additionally, nearly half of all adolescents say social media makes them feel worse about their bodies.”
“It is time to require a surgeon general’s warning label on social media platforms, stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents. A surgeon general’s warning label, which requires congressional action, would regularly remind parents and adolescents that social media has not been proven safe,” he continued.
The suggestion comes after years of mounting evidence have made the link between social media and the youth mental health crisis undeniable. Last April, the American Psychological Association (APA) released a report calling social media unsuitable for adolescents due to its addictive features which wreak havoc on still-developing brains.