Utah lawmakers passed two bills during the most recent legislative session that focus on social media and tech companies. The main ideas are sharing data within social media platforms and adding age verification to social media systems.
According to Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, one bill, HB 418, “has the potential to change the world.” This bill, in essence, changes how social media companies interact with customers. There is not a current system between social media platforms for “interoperability,” a term used to describe cross-platform interaction. A term already used by cell phone companies, in which customers of one phone company can easily contact another customer of an entirely different phone company with no hiccups.
This bill proposes that social media platforms must have a certain degree of interoperability, making them work together with other platforms to do a variety of things. One example of this is if you have a network of friends on one platform, it will become easier to transfer this to another. Another result makes your data more secure by allowing users to completely transfer or delete their data within a social media database.
The next bill, SB 142, seeks to require age verification for app store purchases. This bill mainly targets Apple and Google, the companies running the country’s largest app stores. The terms indicate that if a user is a minor, the bill would make it so the app store must tie their account to a parent or guardian. Essentially, they would need parental approval before downloading an app that requires a terms of service agreement. These agreements are a type of contract that allow app developers to access a device’s data, microphone and camera.
SB 142 passed unanimously, with one vote against it in the Senate and three in the House. Similarly, bill HB 418 passed with a large amount of bipartisan support.
For more information regarding current legislation and state events, check out SUU News.
Author: Tallon Taylor
Photo courtesy of Oyova
Editor: Anna Mower
news@suunews.net
