Utah in the US passes legislation restricting access to social media for minors under the age of 18
A complaint that is increasingly being shared by parents.
“We had a lot of problems with the social network because they like it and they take the phone to the bedroom today. You can’t control it, I won’t knock on the door. ‘Switch off? What’s going on?’” says photographer Andreza Rocha.
Andreza is a mother of three teenagers. The family lives in the state of Utah, which passed a law restricting social media use by under18s.
Teens need parent or guardian approval to open and maintain the accounts, and they also cannot use the networks between 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. unless parental approval, as they do must have full access to their children’s accounts.
All of this will come into effect from March next year. The social network that does not comply with the law can be fined more than R$ 1 million.
1 of 1 Utah law restricts the use of minors on social media — Photo: JN Utah law restricts the use of minors on social media — Photo: JN
Today, six US states are considering passing similar legislation: Texas, Arkansas, Ohio, Louisiana, Connecticut and New Jersey.
The governor of Utah, a state considered conservative, explained what motivated the passage of the law:
“Rates of depression and other mental health problems are rising among young people, and social media companies know their products are toxic.”
Talking to people who don’t take their eyes off the screen is annoying, but people who are on their phones often don’t even realize it. It’s like an addiction. American teenagers spend an average of nine hours a day in front of screens, almost five times the amount recommended by doctors.
While the law doesn’t come into force, Andreza has installed an application on her children’s phones to control the time they use social networks, but it doesn’t always work.
“You’ve already discovered the password and used it a few times. It took me a long time to find out. So I have to change the password sporadically,” says Andreza.