Social Links: The Online Safety Dance Continues

Utah is the latest state to push online youth-safety regulation beyond social media platforms themselves. A new law (H.B. 498) requires stores to verify users’ ages and obtain parental consent before minors can download certain apps, while S.B. 73, which was signed into law on March 19, combines several measures, including a new tax on online adult content and provisions affecting VPN access (such as prohibiting website operators from facilitating or encouraging the use of VPNs if a substantial portion of their website material is harmful to minors). Critics, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, argue the law could also increase pressure on VPN providers as users look for ways around state-based restrictions and age-verification systems. S.B. 73 was scheduled to take effect on May 6 but has been pushed back to September 3, following a court challenge by Pornhub parent company Aylo.

As we’ve covered in recent posts, lawmakers are increasingly targeting the surrounding infrastructure, app distribution systems, and privacy tools that shape how users access online services in the first place.

Read the full blog post.