Nearly three years after the lawsuit was filed, Meta has finally made a change that puts kids first. On August 26, a bipartisan coalition of 52 state attorneys reached an agreement with Meta. The litigation stated that Meta “deliberately designed its platforms to exploit young users’ vulnerabilities, and foster compulsive use.”

The agreement includes multiple changes on how minors can access and use Facebook and Instagram:

• The two-hour time limit: Users under 18 get a default two-hour daily time limit across both Facebook and Instagram. The apps will also be blocked from midnight to 6 a.m.
• Age assurance: Meta has to strengthen its technology to identify under-13-year-old accounts.
• Algorithm choice: Teens can make a non-personalized/algorithmic feed.
• Parents get more control: Parents will get alerts when their teen tries to change these settings or about suspicious interactions.

These are only a few of the many new settings and restrictions in place for teen accounts.

When I was addicted to social media, there was almost no way to prevent it. My parents and I did everything we could to protect my safety. But it’s impossible on an app designed to hook us in. Now we are finally getting those preventative measures. There will be more protections in place to save kids like me.

Through my journey of advocating for teens, my only hope was to protect one person from the fate I fell to. I am so great to the state of Utah and all the individuals that put the pressure on Meta and made this happen.

This is only a starting point; we still need platforms like Google and Apple and apps like TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube to join us in saving kids. But for now, this is a huge success, and it’s more than my 13-year-old self could ever have imagined.

Thank you for listening to my story. It is truly a time to celebrate.

Liddy Johnson

Layton

Kudos to the Standard-Examiner

I picked up a copy of the Standard-Examiner while in Ogden the other day and I was so impressed with the paper. Reminds me of the “good old days” of unbiased journalism and professionally written articles (although the sports section is wasted on me and takes up A LOT of space). I even very much enjoyed the comics you choose! I drive to Ogden once a week and will be picking up a paper from now on. I hope you can remain solvent in these hard times and are able to keep up the great work you do. Thank you!

Kate Juenger

Salt Lake

Where is Congress?

Article 1 of the constitution explains the responsibilities of Congress. They are 1) Enacting Laws: Congress has the authority to create and pass legislation that affects the nation. 2) Declaring War: Only Congress can declare war, ensuring that military actions are subject to legislative approval. 3) Raising Revenue: Congress is responsible for levying taxes, tariffs, and collecting revenue. 4) Oversight of the Executive Branch: Congress monitors the executive branch to hold the President accountable.

Congress is failing on all of these.

Instead of laws we are governed by executive orders. They’ve not declared war yet they support and finance the illegal killing in Iran. They’ve allowed the president to place illegal tariffs because he feels like it. And there is no oversight.

I’ve corresponded many times with Congressman Blake Moore about this issue and others. He sent me a letter and said this:

“I believe we have an obligation to hold our elected leaders to the highest standards, and one of my priorities in Congress is to roll back the powers that Congress has unnecessarily ceded to the executive branch. Congress should be the body debating and making policies impacting the lives of millions of Americans. Providing checks and balances on the other branches of government is a fundamental responsibility of Congress, and I am committed to exercising this constitutional duty regardless of who the president is.”

After receiving this I was deeply concerned and disappointed because I haven’t seen Moore, or any Republican Congress member, hold the President accountable for anything. In fact, it’s just the opposite. The entire Republican Congress has enabled the president, allowing him to do whatever he wants. And they stay silent because they are afraid of his wrath. They have willingly surrendered their integrity just to keep their jobs. It seems that a paycheck is more important than fulfilling their congressional responsibilities.

And now, Speaker Mike Johnson sent congress home 2 weeks early because Thomas Massie brought impeachment charges against the Pete Hegseth. Talk about corruption! Our leaders are willingly absent at a time when we need them most.

Michael Waterfall

Ogden

It’s important to protect the Roadless Rule

The bombardment from this administration is so constant, it makes me want to hide out for the next two years. But I cant. I feel we all have a responsibility to ourselves and to future generations to protect the beautiful lands we enjoy in Utah and across the nation, and to hold them for future generations.

Wendell Barry’s saying, “We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from our children,” could not be truer. We want our public lands protected.

For the past 35 years, the Roadless Rule has protected national forests. If the Roadless Rule is rescinded, 44,000 acres in Utah, some of our favorite hiking, biking, hunting spots will be open to the timber industry under the false pretense that rescinding the rule will allow fire mitigation.

The forest service already has billions in management backlog, and over 370,000 miles of roads to care for. If Trump really cared about our forests, he would increase rather than reduce funding. Instead, he is assuring us logging trucks will rumble down some of our favorite trails in the Uintas, Logan Canyon, Wasatch mountains, and Southern Utah.

The roadless rule allows fire mitigation. It protects our watersheds, species migration patterns and habitat, and since more fires start near roads, it protects from fires.

Besides, our forests are wonderful carbon sinks, helping lessen air pollution and the damaging effects of climate change. We need to speak for them. It is simple. You can send your comment here: sc.org/roadlessrule.

Patty Becnel

Ogden