Trade group representing TikTok, Meta and X sues Utah over strict new limits on app use for minors

SALT LAKE CITY — A commerce group that represents TikTok and different main tech firms sued Utah on Monday over its first-in-the-nation legal guidelines requiring kids and teenagers to acquire parental consent to make use of social media apps.

Two legal guidelines signed in March by Republican Gov. Spencer Cox will prohibit minors from utilizing social media between the hours of 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. except approved by a mother or father – and require age verification to open and keep a social media account within the state.

The restrictions are designed to guard kids from focused commercials and addictive options that might negatively impression their psychological well being. Both legal guidelines take impact March 1, 2024.

The NetChoice commerce group argues in its federal lawsuit that though Utah’s rules are well-intentioned, they’re unconstitutional as a result of they prohibit entry to public content material, compromise information safety and undermine parental rights.

“We are fighting to ensure that all Utahns can embrace digital tools without the forceful clutch of government control,” stated Chris Marchese, Director of the NetChoice Litigation Center. The commerce affiliation contains lots of the world’s main social media firms, together with TikTok, Snapchat mother or father firm Snap Inc., Facebook and Instagram mother or father firm Meta, and X, previously often known as Twitter.

Cox predicted there could be lawsuits difficult each payments however stated he wasn’t nervous as a result of there’s a rising physique of analysis that demonstrates how social media use can negatively impression the psychological well being outcomes of kids.

“I’m not going to back down from a potential legal challenge when these companies are killing our kids,” Cox argued earlier this 12 months.

The governor’s workplace didn’t instantly reply Monday to emails in search of touch upon the lawsuit. The workplace of Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes will symbolize the state in court docket.

“The State of Utah is reviewing the lawsuit but remains intently focused on the goal of this legislation: Protecting young people from negative and harmful effects of social media use,” spokesperson Richard Piatt stated.

In one other lawsuit filed by NetChoice, a federal decide quickly blocked Arkansas from implementing its new legislation requiring parental consent for minors to create new social media accounts. Similar legal guidelines in Texas and Louisiana haven’t but taken impact.

Utah’s state legal guidelines impose steep fines for social media firms that don’t adjust to the age-verification rule, which NetChoice says could lead firms to gather an extra of private info from customers that might find yourself threatening their on-line security. The state rules prohibit firms from utilizing any design or characteristic that causes a toddler to turn out to be hooked on their app.

Under the legal guidelines, mother and father can have entry to their kids’s accounts and might extra simply sue social media firms that they declare have brought about their kids hurt. The legal guidelines shift the burden of proof from the households onto the social media firms, requiring them to reveal that their merchandise weren’t dangerous. Any social media platform with not less than 5 million customers is topic to the brand new rules.

The lawsuit additionally challenges the state-imposed social media curfew, arguing that it might negatively impression kids by reducing them off from the information, examine instruments and communications with their friends.

NetChoice has requested a federal decide to halt the legal guidelines from taking impact whereas its case strikes via the authorized system.