SALT LAKE CITY – Gov. Spencer Cox and Utah lawmakers can give themselves a well-deserved pat on the back for their efforts to protect the state’s youngsters while online.
That’s because a recent nationwide study by Cloudwards.net found that Utah ranks above all other states in terms of providing a safe online environment for children.
Researchers for the online service credited Utah with providing comprehensive online safety legislation, strong mental health support and for holding Internet crimes and threats at relatively moderate levels.
That evaluation was based on a subjective ranking of five metrics, including online safety legislation, mental health support and prevalence of cyber-bullying, online crimes and cyber threats.
Small wonder that, considering how state officials have been on the warpath against social media giants since fall of 2023.
The Cloudwards study acknowledged that Utah made history in 2023 when it became the first state to pass legislation aimed at making age verification on social media a requirement and backed up that law with court litigation, according to Kit Copson, the author of the study.
That law also curtailed direct messaging, the use of algorithms and endless scrolling feeds which are thought to adversely impact youngsters’ mental health.
Faced with a constitutional challenge by NetChoice, Utah has since repealed its original social media regulation act and replaced it with new legislation in the form of Senate Bill 194 and House Bill 464. Among other things, those laws allow parents to sue social media companies for mental health harm to their children.
In February, a Third District Court judge ruled against TikTok Inc.’s motion to dismiss Utah’s pending lawsuit, allowing the state’s legal action against the social media giant to proceed. That suit accuses the company of knowingly facilitating the sexual exploitation of minors through its TikTok Live feature.
During the recent general session for the Legislature, lawmakers made history again by being the first state to require online app stores operated by Apple and Google to verify user ages and obtain parental consent for minors to use certain apps, with parents able to sue if their child is harmed.
The Legislature also passed Senate Bill 178, banning the use of smartphones in kindergarten through 12th grade public classrooms during school hours.
Copson noted that the Cloudwards study found that no state had a perfect approach to kids’ online safety as performance differed – sometimes wildly – across different categories of interest.
In addition to Utah’s first place ranking, several East Coast states made it into the list of the top 15 states for online safety, including New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Vermont, Rhode Island and Georgia.
Several West Coast states – included California, Oregon and Alaska – ranked near the bottom of the list of states in terms of online safety.
Another observation that piqued the interest of Cloudwards researchers was the fact that states with top tech cities – like Raleigh, NC; Austin, TX; and Cupertino, CA – are among the riskiest areas for child online safety.
Founded in 2012, Cloudwards.net is an online publication with a mission to provide trustworthy, useful information to help users safely navigate the world of cloud-based technology.
Based in Arizona, the company has focused on reviewing, comparing, researching and creating how-to guides covering the top online services and tools for more than a decade.