A federal judge in Utah has temporarily blocked social media access laws that leaders said were meant to protect the mental health and personal privacy of children, saying they are unconstitutional.
U.S. District Court Judge Robert Shelby on Tuesday issued the preliminary injunction against laws that would have required social media companies to verify the ages of their users, disable certain features and limit the use of accounts owned by Utah children.
The laws were set to take effect on Oct. 1, but will be blocked pending the outcome of the case filed by NetChoice, a nonprofit trade association for internet companies such as Google, Meta — the parent company of Facebook and Instagram — Snap and X.
The Utah legislature passed the Utah Minor Protection in Social Media Act to replace laws that were passed in 2023 and were challenged as unconstitutional. State officials believed the 2024 act would hold up in court.
But Shelby disagreed.
“The court recognizes the State’s earnest desire to protect young people from the novel challenges associated with social media use,” Shelby wrote in his order. However, the state has not articulated a compelling state interest in violating the First Amendment rights of the social media companies, he wrote.
Republican Gov. Spencer Cox said he was disappointed in the court's decision and was aware it could be a long battle, but said it “is a battle worth waging,” due to the harm that social media is causing children.
“Let’s be clear: social media companies could voluntarily, at this very moment, do everything that the law put in place to protect our children. But they refuse to do so. Instead, they continue to prioritize their profits over our children’s wellbeing. This must stop, and Utah will continue to lead the fight.”
NetChoice argues Utah residents would have to supply additional information to verify their age than social media companies usually collect, putting more information at risk of a data breach.
Several months after Utah became the first state to pass laws regulating children’s social media use in 2023, it sued TikTok and Meta for allegedly luring in children with addictive features.
Under the 2024 Utah laws, default privacy settings for minor accounts would have been required to restrict access to direct messages and sharing features and disable elements such as autoplay and push notifications that lawmakers argue could lead to excessive use.
Parents could obtain access to their children’s accounts and would have grounds to sue a social media company if their child’s mental health worsens from excessive use of an algorithmically curated app. Social media companies must comply with a long list of demands — including a three-hour daily limit and a blackout from 10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. — to help avoid liability.
The laws sought to shift the burden of proof from the families onto the social media companies, requiring them to demonstrate that their curated content did not fully or partially cause a child’s depression, anxiety or self-harm behaviors. Companies would have to pay at least $10,000 in damages for each case of an adverse mental health outcome.
NetChoice has obtained injunctions temporarily halting similar social media limitation laws in California, Arkansas, Ohio, Mississippi and Texas, the organization said.
“With this now sixth injunction against these overreaching laws, we hope policymakers will focus on meaningful and constitutional solutions for the digital age,” said Chris Marchese, director of litigation for NetChoice.
FILE - Utah Gov. Spencer Cox speaks during a news briefing during the final day of the Utah Legislature, March 1, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Florida law enforcement officials will launch their own criminal investigation into the apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump that will run parallel to the federal probe, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday.
The governor said Florida prosecutors will pursue the most serious charges available under state law, including attempted murder, in the state-level investigation into Ryan Wesley Routh, who was charged Monday with federal firearms offenses.
“We have a very strong interest in holding this suspect accountable,” DeSantis told reporters.
It’s not uncommon for state and federal law enforcement agencies to run simultaneous investigations into crimes, as states may be able to bring charges that are unavailable at the federal level — and vice versa.
Routh is charged at the federal level so far only with gun crimes, but additional charges are possible as Justice Department prosecutors seek an indictment from a grand jury. Prosecutors will often quickly bring the first charges they can and then add more serious charges later as the investigation unfolds.
“We will spare no resource in this investigation,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said Tuesday during an event at the Justice Department.
Markenzy Lapointe, the top federal prosecutor for the Southern District of Florida, declined to comment on the state probe.
DeSantis said it will be handled by Florida's office of statewide prosecution, overseen by Attorney General Ashley Moody.
The FBI has interviewed the suspect's family members, friends and colleagues and is working to collect evidence. Authorities have requested search warrants seeking access to a video recording device, cellphones, a vehicle and electronics at Routh’s previous addresses.
No motive has been disclosed, and Routh invoked his right to an attorney when questioned, officials said.
Routh, 58, was arrested Sunday after authorities spotted a gun poking out of shrubbery on the golf course where Trump was playing. Routh camped outside the golf course with food and a rifle for nearly 12 hours, lying in wait for the former president before a Secret Service agent thwarted the potential attack and opened fire.
Routh did not fire any shots, never had Trump in his line of sight and sped away, leaving behind a digital camera, a backpack, a loaded SKS-style rifle with a scope and a plastic bag containing food, officials said. He was arrested in a neighboring county.
Routh’s attorney declined to comment after he appeared briefly in federal court Monday, when a judge ordered that he remain locked up after prosecutors argued that he was a flight risk. Routh has been moved from the Palm Beach County jail to the federal lockup in Miami. A federal magistrate set additional hearings for later this month.
In the federal case, Routh is charged with illegally possessing his gun in spite of multiple felony convictions, including two charges of possessing stolen goods in 2002 in North Carolina. The other charge alleges that the weapon’s serial number was obliterated and unreadable to the naked eye, in violation of federal law.
Coming just weeks after a July 13 shooting at a Pennsylvania campaign rally where Trump was grazed by a gunman’s bullet, the latest assassination attempt accelerated concerns that violence continues to infect American presidential politics.
Federal investigators are examining Routh’s large online footprint, which suggests a man of evolving political viewpoints, including recently an apparent disdain for Trump, as well as intense outrage at global events concerning China and especially Ukraine.
“You are free to assassinate Trump,” Routh wrote of Iran in an apparently self-published 2023 book titled “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War,” which described the former president as a “fool” and “buffoon” for both the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and the “tremendous blunder” of leaving the Iran nuclear deal.
Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press Writer Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale also contributed to this report.
Law enforcement officials work at the scene at the Trump International Golf Club in the aftermath of the apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Law enforcement officials work at the scene of the Trump International Golf Club in the aftermath of the apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Law enforcement officials work at the scene of the Trump International Golf Club in the aftermath of the apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis delivers remarks and answers questions at a news conference Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis delivers remarks and answers questions at a news conference Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis delivers remarks and answers questions at a news conference Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a news conference in the aftermath of the apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis delivers remarks and answers questions at a news conference Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Police drive in to the Mar-a-Lago estate of Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump, one day after an apparent assassination attempt, in Palm Beach, Fla., Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
