A trade group representing TikTok, and several other social media companies sued Utah Monday over its law requiring minors to obtain parental consent before using social media apps.
Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed two bills this year that limit social media use by minors in the state: S.B. 152, which requires parental consent for minors to use social media and mandates age verification, and H.B. 311, which allows for parents to sue social media companies for damages to their child’s health. The NetChoice trade group argues the laws violate the First and Fourteenth Amendment because they restrict access to public content and violate protected expression, according to the lawsuit. (RELATED: New Mexico Sues Meta And Zuckerberg Following Child Exploitation Investigation)
“We are fighting to ensure that all Utahns can embrace digital tools without the forceful clutch of government control,” Chris Marchese, director of the NetChoice Litigation Center, said in a Monday press release.
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – AUGUST 10: Utah Governor Spencer Cox welcomes U.S. President Joe Biden before he spoke at the George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center on August 10, 2023 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)
“Utah’s government took a path that seizes control of the online experience from parents, disregards the importance of education, sidelines the state’s vibrant creator economy, compromises data security and violates constitutional rights,” the press release reads.
NetChoice includes TikTok, Snapchat, Meta and X, formerly known as Twitter, according to their website.
U.S. District Court Judge for the Western District of Arkansas Timothy Brooks, an Obama appointee, sided with NetChoice in a lawsuit in September against a law that would require age verification of social media users. U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of California, Beth Freeman, an Obama appointee, temporarily blocked California’s law in September regulating data collection on platforms, arguing it might threaten free speech.
“Youth rates of depression and other mental health issues are on the rise because of social media companies. As leaders, and parents, we have a responsibility to protect our young people,” Cox said in a March statement announcing the laws.
Cox and NetChoice did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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