Governor Faces The Nation After Utah’s Landmark Bill To Protect Kids

Governor Cox appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" yesterday. He said the mental and emotional damage caused by social media is likely to destroy an entire generation of children unless it is stopped.

He also said that new laws passed in Utah are likely to face a legal challenge, but he feels confident the state will win.

Cox also said he hopes Congress will eventually act to limit social media access for children nationwide.

The new law the governor signed late last week would forbid social media companies -- Facebook, TikTok, SnapChat, Instagram, Twitter, etc. -- from allowing youth in the state access to their product without parental permission.

In addition, the bills, S.B. 152 and H.B. 311, include age verification, required parental permission, and limitations to direct messaging minors. They also provide the means to sue social media companies for any harm that occurs to a minor from social media and seeks to prohibit addictive algorithms.

In other words, social media has been served notice by the state of Utah that they will be held accountable for the now verified harm that is being done to young people.

Representative Jordan Teuscher said the bills will by no means replace parenting, but will, "give them tools to allow them to help their kids navigate social media."

Cox has long been a critic of social media companies and their free reign in the lives of everyone, especially young people.

However, criticism surrounding these bills has focused on the difficulty of enforcing them. Cox responded to critics by saying this was just a first step and there is a lot of work to be done to get these laws and rules to be enforceable.