Social media bill inches forward through Utah legislature with key change

SALT LAKE CITY — A bill to require parental consent for teens to use social media only needs one more vote to pass the Utah Senate. The bill moved forward Monday morning with a big change.

The version of the bill that the Senate approved took out the part that requires that adults must provide an ID to verify their teen’s age.

“That’s no longer required so we’re going to give our Division of Consumer Protection some time — if this bill passes — to work with tech companies and figure out a better verification process,” said Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, who is sponsoring the bill, S.B.152.

That verification process could look like third-party apps using information already provided to verify a user’s age, according to McKell.

Some worry that would be too much information to give to social media companies.

McKell argued that social media users already give up things like photos, birthdays and emails, so the verification process isn’t such a leap. 

“That information could only be used for verification. That is the only purpose, and it’s really clear that’s the only purpose it can be used for.”

McKell said he hopes the bill will pass the Senate this week.

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