Judge temporarily blocks Utah's social media age restrictions
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
A federal judge temporarily blocked a Utah law requiring age verification and parental consent for minors to use social media.
State of play: NetChoice, a tech industry trade group that represents Meta, Google and TikTok, is "substantially likely to succeed on its claim [that] the Act violates the First Amendment," Judge Robert Shelby wrote in the order Tuesday.
Driving the news: The law was set to take effect Oct. 1 and would have required all social media users — adults and minors alike — to provide age verification in order to access their accounts.
- Anyone under 18 would have to get their parents' written consent to open an account, with separate authorization to use it during a "curfew" between 10:30pm and 6:30am.
What they're saying: "Though the court is sensitive to the mental health challenges many young people face, [Utah officials] have not provided evidence establishing a clear, causal relationship between minors' social media use and negative mental health impacts," Shelby wrote.
Zoom in: The state also didn't show the law was the least restrictive way to protect kids' mental health online, Shelby wrote, noting that parental controls are also available.
- "Evidence suggesting parental controls are not in widespread use … does not establish parental tools are deficient. It only demonstrates parents are unaware of parental controls, do not know how to use parental controls, or simply do not care to use parental controls," Shelby wrote.
The other side: "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. Spencer Cox posted on X.
- "Instead, they continue to prioritize their profits over our children's wellbeing. This must stop, and Utah will continue to lead the fight."
Between the lines: Earlier this summer, Shelby threw out some of NetChoice's arguments around the law's ban on features like video autoplay and push notifications on minors' accounts.
The big picture: The new laws are part of a yearslong campaign by Utah officials to limit what they say are harmful effects of social media on children and teens.
- The state last year sued TikTok over alleged mental health damage to youth, and Cox has called on schools to ban cell phones in classrooms.
Flashback: Utah began requiring adult content websites to verify users' age in 2023.
- Many porn sites simply blocked access in Utah rather than implementing approved verification methods.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include comments from Gov. Spencer Cox.