Utah Social Media Regulation Act - S.B.152 / H.B.311

Summary

The Utah Social Media Regulation Act is a pair of bills that would restrict minors' use of social media and impose stricter platform design requirements on social media companies. More specifically, H.B.311, titled the "Social Media Usage Amendments," would ban social media companies from designing their platforms to addict minors under 18, grant Utah's consumer protection division additional authority for enforcing the Act, and enable a private right of action for parents.

S.B.152, titled the "Social Media Regulation Amendments," would require social media companies to verify users' ages, and obtain parental consent if a user is under 18, to create or maintain an account. It also imposes stricter requirements on companies for minor users, including removing their accounts from search results and prohibiting certain direct messages, among others. Social media platforms also cannot target minors with ads or collect, share, and use minors' personal data for most purposes. The Act was signed into law by Gov. Spencer Cox in March 2023, but later repealed and replaced after a legal challenge to the Act's constitutionality.

Updates

February 14, 2023. Bill received a favorable recommendation in the House Judiciary Committee by a vote of 11 to 0 and is referred to the full House.

February 22, 2023. Passed the House by a vote of 68 to 3 and sent to the Senate.

March 1, 2023. Passed the Senate with an amendment by a vote of 24 to 0 and sent back to the House to approve the amendment.

March 1, 2023. The House concurred with the amended Senate bill by a vote of 63 to 6.

March 23, 2023. Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed the Utah Social Media Regulation Amendments into law.

October 15, 2023. The Utah Department of Commerce’s Consumer Protection Division published a proposed rule implementing elements of the Regulation Amendments. The rule established the processes and means for social media companies to verify a user's age and confirm a parent or guardian has provided consent for a minor to open an account, identified the acceptable forms and methods of ID needed for age verification, and more.

December 19, 2023. NetChoice sued Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes and Utah Department of Commerce Consumer Protection Division Director Katherine Hass for the Act's "unconstitutional attempt to regulate both minors’ and adults’ access to—and ability to engage in—protected expression." The Internet trade group claims the Act violates the First Amendment and Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, thereby denying users of their "enforceable rights," and relies on an "unconstitutional definition" of "social media company."

March 7, 2024. Utah lawmakers repealed and replaced the Utah Social Media Regulation Amendments with bills SB 194 and HB 464, the Utah Minor Protection in Social Media Act.