January 1, Industry Fights State’s Attempt to Shield Teens From Social Media

An industry group, NetChoice, has filed a legal challenge against Utah’s law imposing broad restrictions on social media for teenagers.

The Big Tech trade group filed a lawsuit on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah against Attorney General Sean Reyes and Division of Consumer Protection Director Katherine Hass to challenge the Utah Social Media Regulation Act.

This bundle of laws, passed by the Utah legislature and signed by Gov. Spencer Cox (R-UT), starts in March and requires social media platforms to obtain permission from parents for teenagers to open social media accounts.

Platforms must also verify users’ ages before they can make new accounts, and the state will implement a curfew on social media for teenagers between 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m.

NetChoice argues that these restrictions cut back on free speech.

“The Act restricts who can express themselves, what can be said, and when and how speech on covered websites can occur, down to the very hours of the day minors can use covered websites,” the lawsuit reads. “The First Amendment, reinforced by decades of precedent, allows none of this.”

The group contends that the law violates the First Amendment, the 14th Amendment, and federal law, and that it unlawfully restricts the ability of minors to access otherwise legal content. For example, the social media curfew would prevent teenagers from accessing news, communicating with friends, or accessing tools to help with homework for eight hours a day.

Gov. Cox praised the law upon signing it, arguing that it was necessary to do something to stop the detrimental effects that social media websites have on youth and other users. However, the industry group agreed with the concerns about social media and teenagers but argued that Cox and the state of Utah could not ignore constitutional protections in order to do so.

“[W]e are fighting to ensure that all Utahans can embrace digital tools without the forceful clutch of government control,” Chris Marchese, the director of the NetChoice Litigation Center, said in a statement.

NetChoice has filed suits against similar laws in California and Arkansas and succeeded in getting them blocked. The group also faces oral arguments before the Supreme Court in early 2024 over whether Texas’s and Florida’s laws restricting what content can be removed from social media platforms violate the First Amendment.

Why It Matters (op-ed)

Utah’s new law restricting teenage social media use is a well-intentioned but misguided attempt to protect young users. While there’s no denying the negative impact of social media on our youth, infringing on their constitutional rights isn’t the solution.

NetChoice’s legal challenge highlights how the law violates the First Amendment and other protections, ultimately restricting minors’ access to legal content. Government overreach in this case sets a dangerous precedent, and it’s crucial that we find alternative ways to address the issue without compromising fundamental rights.

Instead, let’s focus on education and parental involvement to foster responsible social media use among teenagers, rather than resorting to heavy-handed legislation that infringes on their constitutional rights.

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