Utah judge blocks age verification requirement for social media

A federal judge in Utah has ruled in favor of tech lobby group NetChoice and against the state’s new law requiring social media companies to carry out age verification to restrict children’s access.

U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby found that by presenting content, social media companies are engaging in free speech protected by the 1st Amendment, Law360 reports.

In the same ruling, claims and an injunction filed separately by a group of adults and youths referred to collectively as the Zoulek plaintiffs were rejected for lack of standing.

Despite this, the age verification rules for social media in Utah’s Minor Protection in Social Media Act are off the table, at least for now. They were set to take effect on October 1, but will wait for a final ruling in the case, even if they are ultimately upheld.

“Defendants have not met their burden to articulate a compelling government interest warranting the Act’s intrusion on social media companies’ First Amendment rights,” Shelby ruled.

“To satisfy this exacting standard, Defendants must “specifically identify an ‘actual problem’ in need of solving.”

A 2023 Surgeon General’s report was offered as evidence of the harm social media can cause young people, but the judge noted the advisory was more nuanced than the argument presented by the state.

The state also failed to demonstrate that its law is narrowly tailored, which is necessary under strict scrutiny standards.

Shelby cites precedence in California courts’ handling of age restrictions for violent video games, in which it was found that the state had not made a compelling argument for why it needs to implement requirements “aiding parental authority.”

Clash of the lobbyists

Apple is not a NetChoice member, but has its own powerful lobbyists, as The Wall Street Journal reports.

The Journal describes the lobbying efforts around Louisiana legislators’ attempts to pass age restrictions for social media. The restrictions were targeted at the operating system level, meaning mostly Apple and Google. Louisiana legislator Kim Carver brought forward the bill after talking with a lobbyist for Meta, according to the Journal.

Meta has suggested responsibility for keeping children away from harmful content on its platforms lies elsewhere, like with Apple, because they are better positioned to do it. There is precious little precedent, however, to support the argument that responsibility lies with whatever party can most easily handle it, but Louisiana legislators believe that is the best approach, according to Carver.

Apple put several lobbyists on the case, and the OS-level requirements were removed from the bill at the committee stage. That done, the bill was approved by Louisiana lawmakers.

Article Topics

age verification  |  Apple  |  biometrics  |  children  |  legislation  |  Netchoice  |  social media  |  Utah