Utah bans under-18s from using social media unless parents consent

The laws also prohibit social media companies from advertising to minors, collecting information about them or targeting content to them.

Civil liberties groups have raised concerns that such provisions will block marginalized youth including LGBTQ+ teens from accessing online support networks and information.

Several states have sought to enact guardrails for young social media users. Lawmakers in Connecticut and Ohio have put forward measures to require parental permissions for users younger than 16. Lawmakers in Arkansas and Texas have also introduced bills to restrict social media use among minors under 18, with the latter aiming to ban social media accounts for minors entirely.

California enacted a measure requiring social media networks to enact the highest privacy settings for users younger than 18 as a default.