Judge Temporarily Blocks Utah Kids’ Social Media Age Check Law

A federal judge temporarily blocked a Utah law regulating minors’ use of social media.

Judge Robert J. Shelby of the US District Court for the District of Utah granted tech trade group NetChoice’s bid for a preliminary injunction halting implementation of the law, writing in a Tuesday opinion that “NetChoice is substantially likely to succeed on its claim the Act violates the First Amendment.”

“The court recognizes the State’s earnest desire to protect young people from the novel challenges associated with social media use,” wrote Shelby. “But owing to the First Amendment’s paramount place in our democratic system, even well-intentioned legislation that regulates speech based on content must satisfy a tremendously high level of constitutional scrutiny.”

Shelby said that defendants had not yet shown they met that bar.

NetChoice —whose members include Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc.—filed a lawsuit in December seeking to block the law. The group alleges that it violates the First Amendment rights of residents by limiting their access to content while requiring them to verify their ages to access sites. NetChoice filed an updated complaint and amended motion for a preliminary injunction in May after Utah passed an updated version of the law.

NetChoice has netted injunctions against similar laws restricting minors’ access to online content in Ohio, California Arkansas and Mississippi.

Last month, Shelby granted the Utah attorney general’s motion to dismiss a part of the lawsuit claiming Utah law preempted federal protections under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects platforms from liability for user-generated content.

“We look forward to seeing this law, and others like it, permanently struck down and online speech and privacy fully protected across the country,” NetChoice Litigation Director Chris Marchese said in a written statement.

The office for the Utah Attorney General did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The case is NetChoice, LLC v. Reyes, D. Utah, No. 2:23-cv-00911-RJS-CMR, 2024 BL 249636, 9/10/24