A Sweeping Plan to Protect Kids From Social Media

The Daily

The New York Times

Daily News, News

4.4 • 102.8K Ratings

🗓️ 27 March 2023

⏱️ 28 minutes

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Summary

A few days ago, Utah became the first state to pass a law prohibiting social media services from allowing users under 18 to have accounts without the explicit consent of a parent or guardian. The move, by Republican officials, is intended to address what they describe as a mental health crisis among American teenagers as well as to protect younger users from bullying and child sexual exploitation.The technology reporter Natasha Singer explains the measure, and why it could be a sign of where the country is headed. Guest: Natasha Singer, who writes about technology, business and society for The New York Times.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From New York Times, I'm Micah Bavaro.
0:04.3	This is it, A.L.A.
0:05.3	A few days ago, Republican officials in Utah went further than any other state to protect
0:19.9	children from the risks of social media.
0:24.0	My colleague, Natasha Singer, says that despite the unusualness of what Utah did, it may be a
0:31.1	sign of where the entire country is headed.
0:46.8	It's Monday, March 27.
0:55.0	Natasha, tell us about what happened late last week in Utah.
1:01.0	Last Thursday, in Utah, at three o'clock in the afternoon, local time.
1:06.0	Ladies and gentlemen, it is an honor to have all of you here today.
1:10.0	The governor held a ceremonial event in which he signed into law a package of bills that will fundamentally
1:19.0	change how children and teens in Utah use social media.
1:24.3	These are first of their kind bills in the United States.
1:30.0	These laws are designed to make kids safer online, but they go further than any other laws
1:36.6	in the land.
1:37.6	That's huge that Utah is leading out on this effort.
1:41.0	And what he was doing was he had timed the event to a hearing in Congress on the fate
1:47.7	of TikTok.
1:49.4	And it was as if the governor of Utah was saying to Congress, you folks, while you're
1:54.5	blathering away about the harms of TikTok.
1:58.5	Here in Utah, we're actually going to do something about it.
2:01.8	Any legislators that are here can come up.
	...

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