A Utah judge blocks a law that restricts teenagers from freely accessing social media

On Tuesday, US District Chief Judge Robert Shelby issued a preliminary injunction to limit children’s use of social media. Republican Governor Spencer Cox signed the Utah Minor Protection in Social Media Act in early March. It was supposed to go into effect on October 1, but the court’s decision to block the law is a victory for young social media users in Utah.

This is not the first time the governor of Utah has tried to use among the youth in the state. Last year, he signed two bills requiring parents to give permission for teenagers to create social media accounts, and for these accounts to have restrictions such as curfews and age verification. In March due to lawsuits challenging its legality.

Under the law, social media companies would have been forced to verify the age of all users. When a child registers for an account, they are subject to various restrictions. The content they share will only be seen by linked accounts. Additionally, sub-accounts cannot be searched or messaged by non-followers or friends, and no strangers.

The main reason for this is because of NetChoice’s claim that the law is in violation of the First Amendment. NetChoice is a trade association formed by tech giants such as X (formerly Twitter), Snap, Meta and Google. The organization was able to win court battles and block similar laws in whole or in part in states like , and .