The Utah Social Media Regulation Act, set to take effect in March of 2024, imposes regulations requiring children under 18 to obtain parent permission before signing up for social media platforms.
Introduced earlier this year in Utah's 2023 legislative session, the act, also known as SB152, also includes setting time constraints on when minors can access social media sites, instituting an age verification requirement for social media sign-ups and stipulating that site operators must provide parents with access to their children’s content and the ability to track activity on the sites.
The act garnered widespread bipartisan support from Utah's lawmakers as well as Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, who signed the bill into law this spring despite opposition from advocacy groups who cited First Amendment and privacy concerns.
But what do Utahns think? A recent Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll found overwhelming support for the parent permission provision of the new law, with 79% of respondents saying they somewhat or strongly agree with the new rule, while 18% said they somewhat or strongly disagreed.
Read more about Utahns' thoughts on the new rule.
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