[ryankshaw]

I live in Utah. If that's what happens, that would be awesome! "Sorry kids, no fb/tiktok/insta and there's nothing I can do about it. None of them work where we live"

Would be a huge win for all parents. No social media, and we don't have to be the bad guys taking it away.

[judge2020]

From other comments, it seems the definition is not "what you assume is a social media app" but "any service with over 5 million users that facilitates chat via posts". I am 99% certain this includes Hacker News, Steam, probably also bugs.chromium.org and bugzilla.mozilla.org, and maybe even any website that allows user comments if they happen to have over 5 million users.

[PragmaticPulp]

> From other comments, it seems the definition is not "what you assume is a social media app" but "any service with over 5 million users that facilitates chat via posts".

It's baffling to read all the HN comments encouraging draconian restrictions and forced PII collection on websites, all with the assumption that it will only apply to websites I don't like.

Laws like this, if enforced, would make a lot of the sites you use on a daily basis require strict ID verification. Are you really ready to be doing the ID verification dance with GitHub, Reddit, Hacker News and every other big site on the internet just to post?

Of course not. You're going to sign up for a VPN and use it, just like all of the 17 year old kids who just want to use the internet like normal people.

[hra5th]

I would be surprised if bugzilla.mozzila.org has over 5 million users

[sircastor]

It’s a narrow win. If people can’t post to their sites, they’re going to start thinking about going to Colorado rather than Utah for their skiing. The so-called “Silicon slopes” are going to thin out as large companies question what the legislature is going to arbitrarily decide to screw with next. Tourism dollars and high tech jobs are a hefty price.

As an aside, I lived in Utah for many years and I generally thought people preferred to not have the government dictating what was allowed and not allowed.

[throwaway-blaze]

Willing to bet most of the Utahns you lived around are more worried about the impact of these services on their kids than on government overreach. They can't figure out a non-governmental way to fix the issue.

[veec_cas_tant]

Hopefully this is hyperbole. Seems a bit extreme to hope the government legislates away industries because you don't want to handle the parenting yourself.

[hayst4ck]

I would love it if you would state what you think the viewpoint opposite yours is and then try to defend it, then explain why that defense is wrong.

> legislates away industries because you don't want to handle the parenting yourself.

What are your thoughts on pharmaceutical/heroin legislation? What are your thoughts on making it illegal to advertise unhealthy food to kids? How do you feel about the idea of product placement in children's TV shows? How do you feel about letting pharmaceutical companies directly market to children?

You look at parenting as black and white. Good parents would prevent their kids from doing bad things. Bad parents can't prevent their kids from doing bad things. "If a kid does something bad then it is because they have bad parents."

The reality is that parents are just one element of the childs environment and that their choice to do bad things can be fit to a bell curve based on the complete set of environmental factors for which parenting is one element.

Holding parenting ability constant, the government could make changes that would improve outcomes for some set of children.

[Aachen]

You can ban social media as a parent today and damage your child's social life.

If it's banned for every child equally, they will have to meet up irl or call each other like in the 80s or whatever. Whatever the alternative, it shifts the dynamic and doesn't isolate your child.

Regulations for kids is not simply about bad parenting but can be about prisoner's dilemma-like situations where everyone needs to work together for a good outcome and, unless a decent percentage gets on board at more or less the same time, it's counterproductive for individuals.

[yieldcrv]

I hope that corporations more frequently put less relevant jurisdictions in their place and remind representatives that they are in competition with other jurisdictions and this overrides their public service ideas.

So I’m more of a fan of seeing that. Not the actual outcome.

Would make more people choose more collaborative solutions faster.

[arpowers]

Social media, crypto, gambling and the cigarette industries should be legislated away. Yes.

[acover]

You have to show id to buy cigarettes. How hard is it to id people before account creation?

[sbrother]

Another Utahn here and I feel the same. I don’t really see how this could work and think it will probably go away quietly, but I’d kind of love it if these platforms (and the social pressure our kids feel to be on them) just went away.

[Buttons840]

Is love to see Instagram, etc, replaced with a static site in Utah asking people to vote for better leaders.

[readams]

Hacker News would fit the definition also

[matthewfcarlson]

I don’t know how I feel about living in Utah if I couldn’t use GitHub, YouTube, stack overflow, most blogs, or any of the dozens of websites I enjoy.

I lived there for a few years in college and while I’m somewhat surprised the law passed, I’m not that surprised.

[GuB-42]

Also, no Reddit, no Discord, no forums and no Hacker News.

Paradoxically, TikTok and Instagram could pass in a limited form. What is targeted is communication between people, mindless consumption is fine by that law.

[pavel_lishin]

But that's not what would happen:

> Utah has become the first US state to require social media firms get parental consent for children to use their apps and verify users are at least 18.

> The bills also impose a social media curfew that blocks children's access between 22:30 and 06:30, unless adjusted by their parents.

So there would very much be something you could do about it, and your kids would find out.

You're still the quote-unquote bad guys. You still have to, gasp, parent.

[seandoe]

Utahn with two young kids, yes please!!

[fludlight]

You realize these companies will quiet-fire all employees residing in Utah and never hire there again? That this will place massive negative pressure on all software salaries in Utah? Possibly on all software salaries outside of deep blue states?

[prh8]

So kids are just going to replace all of that with more porn? Utah is already the biggest consumer of it

[vasco]

> we don't have to be the bad guys taking it away

You not wanting to explain something to your kids and enforce limits based on said explanations isn't a reason to make a law.

[arpowers]

Ya would be awesome