William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice
Abstract
On October 1, 2024, Utah’s Social Media Regulation Act was scheduled to go into effect, regulating minors’ access and relationship to social media platforms. The Act will, in part, require minor account holders to obtain parent or guardian consent to maintain a social media account, limit the hours minors can be on social media, and prohibit social media platforms from using “addictive” features with minors’ social media accounts. Utah’s Legislature enacted the Social Media Regulation Act in response to the current mental health crisis among Utah minors, which is part of a larger mental health crisis among youth across the United States. While this is a critical issue to resolve, the legislation Utah is implementing to address the youth mental health crisis would significantly infringe on Utah minors’ First Amendment rights. Additionally, the Act would extend beyond the parameters that the U.S. Supreme Court set in previous First Amendment cases, such as Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association and Packingham v. North Carolina. The Act could also be a powerful weapon of censorship against speech that Utah officials wish to silence, proving to be another chapter in the “anti-woke” movement.