MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th March, 2023) Utah Governor Spencer Cox on Friday signed two laws that put limits on the use of social media by young people, making it the first state in the United States to implement such measures.
"We're no longer willing to let social media companies continue to harm the mental health of our youth. Today we signed two key bills in our fight against social media companies into law," Cox wrote on Twitter.
The first law obliges social media companies to verify the age of users to open an account, and those under 18 will need their parents' consent to create one, the governor said.
The second law makes it easier to lodge a complaint with social media companies to get compensation for damages, he added.
Utah is a Republican-led state, and the recent measures taken by its leadership are being considered by other red states, such as Arkansas, Texas, Ohio and Louisiana. The two laws make Utah the first US state to require social media companies to verify the age of their users to open accounts and get parental consent to do so for under 18s.
The new laws will enter into force on March 1, 2024.
