Utah sued again over social media restrictions
Kyle Dunphey
(Utah News Dispatch) Utah’s proposed social media restrictions are facing yet another legal challenge, this time from a handful of residents who say the state’s “clumsy attempt to childproof social media is an unconstitutional mess.”
Filed in Utah’s U.S. District Court last week, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE, is suing Utah over two laws passed last year that would require social media companies to obtain the consent of a parent or guardian for any prospective user under 18 years old.
By doing so, the law would have presumably required social media companies to verify the age of all Utah residents before they opened an account, which the most recent lawsuit called “a heavy-handed state dictate riddled with unconstitutional restrictions.”
It marks the second lawsuit filed against Utah in response to its social media laws. NetChoice, which represents a number of big tech companies including Meta, Google and Amazon, sued in December, arguing its social media law violates the First and 14th Amendments by restricting minors and adults from accessing online content.
In response to the NetChoice suit, lawmakers are planning to overhaul the social media law.
“It’s going to take a different approach to hopefully not trample on the free speech issues that have been raised,” Sen. Kirk Cullimore, R-Sandy, told Utah News Dispatch last week. Cullimore sponsored a bill, which he expects to pass soon, that will delay the implementation of the social media restrictions from March 2024 to October 2024.
Like the NetChoice complaint, the most recent suit alleges the state is violating the First and 14th amendments of the U.S. Constitution. The complaint argues Utah is imposing “regulation over a global communications medium and forces social media companies to redesign their services, limiting the information and resources users may access.”
The lawsuit also claims the law is in violation of Section 230, which shields websites from being liable for illegal content or claims posted by other people.
“The provisions compel social media companies to block (collaterally censor) Plaintiffs’ speech and access to speech, the precise evil Congress sought to avert,” the complaint reads.
FIRE filed the suit on behalf of four plaintiffs – Hannah Zoulek, described as a queer-identifying high school student who worries the law will chill online speech; Val Snow, a YouTuber who makes videos about cooking and mental health; and Lu Ann Cooper and Jessica Christensen, online activists who “escaped a polygamous community and now provide resources to those in similar situations.”
“This law will require me and my mom to give sensitive personal information to major tech companies simply to access platforms that have been an integral part of my development, giving me a sense of community and really just helping me figure out who I am as a person,” said Zoulek in a news release. “Growing up already isn’t easy, and the government making it harder to talk with people who have similar experiences to mine just makes it even more difficult.”
The Utah Attorney General’s Office declined to comment on active litigation.