Utah
TikTok, Meta and X group is suing Utah over strict new app limits
A trade group that represents TikTok and other major tech companies sued Utah on Monday over its first-in-the-nation laws requiring children and teens to obtain parental consent to use social media apps.
Two laws signed in March by Republican Gov. Spencer Cox will prohibit minors from using social media between the hours of 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. unless authorized by a parent — and require age verification to open and maintain a social media account in the state.
The restrictions are designed to protect children from targeted advertisements and addictive features that could negatively impact their mental health. Both laws take effect March 1, 2024.
The NetChoice trade group argues in its federal lawsuit that although Utah’s regulations are well-intentioned, they are unconstitutional because they restrict access to public content, compromise data security and undermine parental rights.
“We are fighting to ensure that all Utahns can embrace digital tools without the forceful clutch of government control,” said Chris Marchese, Director of the NetChoice Litigation Center. The trade association includes many of the world’s leading social media companies, including TikTok, Snapchat parent company Snap Inc., Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta, and X, formerly known as Twitter.
Cox predicted there would be lawsuits challenging both bills but said he wasn’t worried because there is a growing body of research that demonstrates how social media use can negatively impact the mental health outcomes of children.
“I’m not going to back down from a potential legal challenge when these companies are killing our kids,” Cox argued earlier this year.
The governor’s office did not immediately respond Monday to emails seeking comment on the lawsuit. The office of Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes will represent the state in court.
“The State of Utah is reviewing the lawsuit but remains intently focused on the goal of this legislation: Protecting young people from negative and harmful effects of social media use,” spokesperson Richard Piatt said.
In another lawsuit filed by NetChoice, a federal judge temporarily blocked Arkansas from enforcing its new law requiring parental consent for minors to create new social media accounts. Similar laws in Texas and Louisiana have not yet taken effect.
Utah’s state laws impose steep fines for social media companies that do not comply with the age-verification rule, which NetChoice says may lead companies to collect an excess of personal information from users that could end up threatening their online safety. The state regulations prohibit companies from using any design or feature that causes a child to become addicted to their app.
Under the laws, parents will have access to their children’s accounts and can more easily sue social media companies that they claim have caused their children harm. The laws shift the burden of proof from the families onto the social media companies, requiring them to demonstrate that their products were not harmful. Any social media platform with at least five million users is subject to the new regulations.
The lawsuit also challenges the state-imposed social media curfew, arguing that it could negatively impact children by cutting them off from the news, study tools and communications with their peers.
NetChoice has asked a federal judge to halt the laws from taking effect while its case moves through the legal system.
Utah
Alabama lands portal commitment from Utah CB Cameron Calhoun
A day after keeping one of its current cornerbacks from the transfer portal, Alabama is now adding to its future secondary. The Crimson Tide received a commitment from Utah cornerback transfer Cameron Calhoun on Wednesday. The rising sophomore will have three years of eligibility remaining.
Calhoun started one game over 11 appearances during his debut season this fall. The 6-foot, 177-pound defender led Utah with nine pass breakups to go with an interception. He also tallied 21 tackles, including one for a loss.
Calhoun, a Cincinnati native, originally signed with Michigan as a four-star recruit in the 2023 class before transferring to Utah. He was a high school teammate with Alabama freshman signee Justin Hill.
Alabama lost cornerback Jahlil Hurley (Kansas) and safety DeVonta Smith to the transfer portal earlier this month. The Tide nearly saw cornerback Jaylen Mbakwe enter as well. However, the five-star freshman had a change of heart and elected to return to the team.
Both of Alabama’s starting cornerbacks from this season, Domani Jackson and Zabien Brown, are eligible to return next year. Jackson, a rising senior will have a draft decision to make, while Brown is coming off a promising freshman campaign. The Tide also returns former Wake Forest transfer DaShawn Jones, a rising redshirt senior, who saw plenty of action both at cornerback and in the Husky role.
The addition of Calhoun ensures Alabama is covered in the event Jackson elects to depart for the draft. Regardless, the Utah transfer provides the Tide with more experienced depth in the secondary.
Utah
5 Family Members Found Dead Inside Utah Home, 17-Year-Old Boy Hospitalized: ‘Absolutely Horrific’
Police in Utah are investigating the deaths of five people from the same family who were found dead inside their home.
The West Valley City Police Department shared on X (formerly known as Twitter) that officers were investigating a homicide after they found “five people deceased” and one teenager injured inside a home on the 3700 block of Oxford Way — which is located about 9 miles from Salt Lake City.
The five people who were found deceased included two adults, a 42-year-old male, a 38-year-old female, an 11-year-old boy, a 9-year-old girl and a 2-year-old girl. Police noted that their “initial information” indicated that they were all related and lived together.
Authorities said their investigation began when they were contacted by a family member on Monday, Dec. 16 who had voiced their “concerns” to police after “they had not heard from the woman who lives in the home” after visiting a few days prior.
Officers then visited the property and attempted to “make contact” with the family. However, when they arrived and knocked at the door, “no one answered,” so officers looked inside the windows of the home and “spoke to neighbors.”
“They did not find any indications of an emergency or crime so they asked the family member to keep in contact,” police said in their statement.
When one of the deceased did not show up for work on Tuesday, Dec. 17, the concerned family member decided to enter the garage of the home to check if everyone was okay. While there, she found a 17-year-old family male member suffering from “an apparent gunshot wound” and called the police.
Officers responded to the scene just after 2 p.m., and the 17-year-old was transported to the hospital. West Valley City police spokesperson Roxeanne Vainuku described his injuries as “significant” in a press conference, per KTVX and NBC News.
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“He’s in a condition where we’ve not really been able to communicate with him,” Vainuku said, per NBC News. His exact condition was unknown, per the outlet.
After searching the house, authorities found the five other bodies. However, police did not say how they may have died.
Vainuku described the scene as “absolutely horrific,” and added that it “is something that certainly will weigh heavily on investigators in this case.”
Police said in a statement that they “obtained a search warrant for the home” and investigators had started their investigation inside the home.
“Officers also have canvassed the neighborhood gathering information and any video evidence,” they added.
“At this time, we believe this incident is isolated to this home,” police continued.
Utah
Utah family of five found dead in home
FIVE members of a Utah family including children aged 2, 9 and 11 were found dead of gunshot wounds in their home on Tuesday, while one 17-year-old boy was injured, police said.
There were no suspects at large, police said, indicating the shooter was someone within the family.
“We do not believe there’s a suspect on the loose. We believe at this point that this is an incident that’s isolated to this home,“ West Valley police spokesperson Roxeanne Vainuku told reporters.
The 17-year-old was in the hospital undergoing treatment and it was too soon to determine whether he was a suspect or a victim, Vainuku said.
The five dead were a man, 42, a woman, 38, a boy, 11, and two girls ages 9 and 2, Vainuku said.
“This is far beyond anything routine,“ Vainuku said. “There were four (homicides) in the city for the entire year of 2024 so this more than doubles that number. … This is something that certainly will weigh heavily upon investigators.”
West Valley City is a suburb of Salt Lake City with a population of about 134,000.
Police had been called to the home on Monday by a concerned relative but nobody inside responded and officers looking through the windows found no sign of an emergency or crime, Vainuku said.
When the woman failed to show at work on Tuesday, relatives entered the home and found the 17-year-old wounded in the garage. Officers called to the scene entered the home and found the bodies, police said.
In January 2023, a 42-year-old Utah man whose wife had filed for divorce just before Christmas shot dead seven members of his family including his five children ranging in ages from 4 to 17 and then turned the gun on himself, said officials in the town of Enoch City in southwestern Utah.
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