Lawmakers in the Beehive State are obsessed with porn.
A couple years ago, they declared porn a “public health crisis” and now they are taking it a step further.
The GOP-controlled legislature recently passed HB72 which requires every tablet and smartphone sold in the state after January 1st, 2022 should come with a preinstalled content filter capable of "blocking material that is harmful to minors."
The bill now sits on Republican Governor Spencer Cox’s desk who can either veto or sign the bill into law by March 25th.
Gov. Cox hasn't indicated publicly which way he's leaning.
KSL.com reports that his office said in an email that the Governor “will carefully consider this bill during the bill signing period."
If Gov. Cox signs HB72 into law, it wouldn’t go into effect unless five other states also enacted similar laws.
“If Cox signs the bill, Utah appears poised to become the first state to mandate filters on devices, according to two prominent technology experts and the bill's sponsor, though federal internet restrictions aimed at preventing kids from accessing porn were passed in the late 1990s and later stuck down in the courts.”
Samir Jain, policy director at the Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington, D.C.-based internet policy group, rightly points out the serious First Amendment questions raised by this, saying “you’ve basically got the state mandating the filtering of lawful content. That raises immediate First Amendment flags.”