(1) A Utah minor account holder or a Utah minor account holder‘s parent may bring a cause of action against a social media company in court for an adverse mental health outcome arising, in whole or in part, from the minor’s excessive use of the social media company’s algorithmically curated social media service.
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Terms Used In Utah Code 78B-3-1103

  • Account holder: means the same as that term is defined in Section 13-71-101. See Utah Code 78B-3-1101
  • Adverse mental health outcome: includes depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts or behaviors, and self-harm thoughts or behaviors. See Utah Code 78B-3-1101
  • Algorithmically curated social media service: means a social media service that drives user engagement primarily through the use of:
         (3)(a) a curation algorithm; and
         (3)(b) engagement driven design elements. See Utah Code 78B-3-1101
  • Content: means the same as that term is defined in Section 13-71-101. See Utah Code 78B-3-1101
  • Curation algorithm: means a computational process or set of rules used by a social media platform that determines, influences, or personalizes, designed to encourage prolonged or frequent engagement:
              (5)(a)(i) the content a user views;
              (5)(a)(ii) the order in which content is displayed;
              (5)(a)(iii) how prominently content is displayed; or
              (5)(a)(iv) the manner in which content is displayed. See Utah Code 78B-3-1101
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Engagement driven design elements: means :
         (6)(a) autoplay features that continuously play content without requiring user interaction;
         (6)(b) scroll or pagination that loads additional content as long as the user continues scrolling; or
         (6)(c) push notifications. See Utah Code 78B-3-1101
  • Equal: means , with respect to biological sex, of the same value. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • Excessive use: means the use of a social media service by a minor to an extent that the use substantially interferes with the minor's normal functioning in:
         (7)(a) academic performance;
         (7)(b) sleep;
         (7)(c) in-person relationships;
         (7)(d) mental health; or
         (7)(e) physical health. See Utah Code 78B-3-1101
  • Minor: means the same as that term is defined in Section 13-71-101. See Utah Code 78B-3-1101
  • Parent: includes a legal guardian. See Utah Code 78B-3-1101
  • Person: means :
         (24)(a) an individual;
         (24)(b) an association;
         (24)(c) an institution;
         (24)(d) a corporation;
         (24)(e) a company;
         (24)(f) a trust;
         (24)(g) a limited liability company;
         (24)(h) a partnership;
         (24)(i) a political subdivision;
         (24)(j) a government office, department, division, bureau, or other body of government; and
         (24)(k) any other organization or entity. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • Social media company: means the same as that term is defined in Section 13-71-101. See Utah Code 78B-3-1101
  • Social media service: means the same as that term is defined in Section 13-71-101. See Utah Code 78B-3-1101
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes a state, district, or territory of the United States. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • United States: includes each state, district, and territory of the United States of America. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • User: means the same as that term is defined in Section 13-71-101. See Utah Code 78B-3-1101
  • Utah minor account holder: means the same as that term is defined in Section 13-71-101. See Utah Code 78B-3-1101
(2) To recover damages in a cause of action brought under this section, a person bringing the cause of action must demonstrate:

     (2)(a) that the Utah minor account holder has been diagnosed by a licensed mental health care provider with an adverse mental health outcome; and
     (2)(b) that the adverse mental health outcome was caused by the Utah minor account holder’s excessive use of an algorithmically curated social media service.
(3) Except as provided in Subsection (4), a person who brings an action described in Subsection (1), is entitled to a rebuttable presumption that:

     (3)(a) the Utah minor account holder’s adverse mental health outcome was caused, in whole or in part, by the Utah minor account holder’s excessive use of the algorithmically curated social media service; and
     (3)(b) the Utah minor account holder’s excessive use of the algorithmically curated social media service was caused, in whole or in part, by the algorithmically curated social media service’s curation algorithm and engagement driven design elements.
(4) A social media company that complies with the provisions of Section 78B-11-1104 is entitled to a rebuttable presumption that:

     (4)(a) the Utah minor account holder’s adverse mental health outcome was not caused, in whole or in part, by the Utah minor account holder’s excessive use of the algorithmically curated social media service; and
     (4)(b) the Utah minor account holder’s excessive use of the algorithmically curated social media service was not caused, in whole or in part, by the algorithmically curated social media service’s curation algorithm and engagement driven design elements.
(5) If a court or fact finder finds that a Utah minor account holder suffered any adverse mental health outcome as a result of the Utah minor account holder’s use of a social media company’s algorithmically curated social media service, the person seeking relief is entitled to:

     (5)(a) an award of reasonable attorney fees and court costs; and
     (5)(b) an amount equal to the greater of:

          (5)(b)(i) $10,000 for each adverse mental health outcome incidence; or
          (5)(b)(ii) the amount of actual damages.
(6) A social media company may not be held liable under this part:

     (6)(a) based on the content of material posted by users of the algorithmically curated social media service; or
     (6)(b) for declining to restrict access to or modify user posts based solely on the content of those posts.
(7) Nothing in this part shall displace any other available remedies or rights authorized under the laws of this state or the United States.

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