Social media companies, beware: Governor says lawsuits coming in Utah

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said Sunday he is getting ready to sue social media companies for the harm caused to his state's young people.

“In the coming months, you will see lawsuits being filed by the state of Utah to hold them accountable,” Cox, a Republican, said during an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

“We believe they’ve known about the dangers, some of this has been leaked out, Meta and others, very clear evidence that they knew the harms that their products were causing to kids, and that they intentionally tried to hide that information.”

Cox signed legislation earlier this year that sets limits on the ways minors are able to use social media. The laws, which will take effect next year, set a digital curfew on social media users younger than 18, require minors to get parental consent to sign up for accounts and demand social media companies verify the ages of users in Utah.

The laws are the first of their kind in the U.S., though Cox has acknowledged that they will be difficult to enforce — and could face legal challenges.

“I suspect that at some point, the Supreme Court will weigh in on this decision when it comes to restricting youth access,” he said Sunday.

"What we're trying to do is give families more control over what is happening on social media. When you when you look at the new research that's coming out, there's not just a correlation between social media use and an increase in suicide, anxiety, depression, self-harm, there is a causal link there.”

The goal, he added, is to give parents and kids more control over their experiences with social media, by “making these social media companies turn off the algorithms that we know are driving so much of this harmful addiction.”