Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — Gov. Spencer Cox has spent much of the past year championing legislation and litigation aimed at protecting kids from the harms of social media, and on Wednesday said he supports banning smartphones from K-12 classrooms in Utah.
"I do," the governor said, when asked during his monthly PBS Utah news conference if he thinks students should be barred from using their phones during class.
Cox said the evidence is "overwhelming" that smartphones contribute to learning loss for students.
"If you go back and look at the data, learning loss in our country, and all over the world, started in about 2012 when the smartphones became ubiquitous," he added.
He said he already has plans to contact every school in the state to ask principals to take measures to prevent smartphone use in class. One lawmaker proposed a bill earlier this year to ban cellphones from classrooms, though it didn't make it out of committee.
No specific proposal has been announced to enact such a policy, but it's likely something that will come up during the Legislature's upcoming general session.
Cox said he has "no problem ... whatsoever" with exceptions to a ban, especially for children who have medical or other reasons for having their phones with them at all times.
"There will always be exceptions to any rule, but by and large we know that things improve at least giving kids a break for that ... six or seven hours a day when they're in the classroom," Cox said.
Utah Sen. Mitt Romney has proposed federal legislation to study the impact of smartphone use on academic achievement. His proposal was approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee last week.
Tech group sues to block social media law
When asked about a lawsuit filed by NetChoice, a tech industry group, earlier this week in an attempt to block Utah's Social Media Regulation Act from going into effect, Cox said he's not surprised. Still, he promised the state would "vigorously defend these laws," which he believes are constitutional.
The regulations are scheduled to go into effect on March 1, 2024, and Cox has previously said he expects lawmakers and agencies to tinker with some of the specifics before then.
"I don't think there will be anything too significant this legislative session," he said. "We aren't just playing defense, though; we're playing offense as well. Our lawsuits against TikTok and Meta show that and we expect more of those to come."
Cox also highlighted several of his key accomplishments from the past year, including increasing teacher salaries, cutting taxes and investing in housing affordability and homelessness prevention.
The governor recently unveiled his record-breaking state budget request of $29.5 billion and plans to build 35,000 new starter homes in the state over the next four years.
You can watch the press conference in its entirety below:
