Utah on Thursday became the first US state to require social media sites to get parental consent for accounts used by under-18s, placing the burden on platforms like Instagram and TikTok to verify the age of their users.
The law, which takes effect in March 2024, was brought in response to fears over growing youth addiction to social media, and to security risks such as online bullying, exploitation, and collection of children's personal data.
"We're no longer willing to let social media companies continue to harm the mental health of our youth," tweeted Spencer Cox, governor of the western US state, who signed two related bills at a ceremony Thursday. They set out fines for social media companies if they target users under 18 with"addictive algorithms," and make it easier for parents to sue social media companies for financial, physical or emotional harm."We hope that this is just the first step in many bills that we'll see across the nation, and hopefully taken on by the federal government," said state representative Jordan Teuscher, who co-sponsored the bill.
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