Tag: utah

Mike Lee’s App Store Accountability Act Would Make Google and Apple Check IDs

Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee has introduced a bill to keep porn out of app stores. There might just be one tiny problem here: They already do.

So, what’s the point? Dig a little deeper and you’ll see that this bill is about forcing age verification on app stores and mobile devices, with a side goal of chilling sex-related speech.

Lee is framing his new bill (S. 5364) as a matter of “accountability”—a word found right in the bill’s title—and of preventing “big corporations” from “victimiz[ing] kids” with “sexual and violent content.” We can’t count on tech companies to act “moral” on their own accord, Lee posted to X.

But big corporations like Google and Apple already ban apps featuring sexual content, and these bans extend not just to kids but to everybody.

While apps can be downloaded from a plethora of sources, there are two main centralized app marketplaces: Apple’s App Store, for iPhones, and the Google Play store, for Androids. Play Store guidelines reject all apps “that contain or promote sexual content or profanity, including pornography, or any content or services intended to be sexually gratifying.” The App Store explicitly prohibits apps featuring “overtly sexual or pornographic material,” which it defines broadly to include any “explicit descriptions or displays of sexual organs or activities intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings.” Apple also bans “hookup” apps and any other “apps that may include pornography or be used to facilitate prostitution.”

Lee’s bill can’t be about simply convincing Apple and Google to adopt his version of morality, since they already have.

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How This Remote Utah Ranch Became a Paranormal Activity Hotspot

Ihave been warned. This much is clear within minutes of ducking out of a helicopter onto the high-desert oasis of Skinwalker Ranch in northeastern Utah one searingly bright October afternoon. As a visitor approaching the dark and inscrutable paranormal forces patrolling this property, I could be targeted.

The admonition has come in several forms. There was the prayer for safe deliverance given by chopper pilot Cameron Fugal, brother of property owner Brandon Fugal, as we approached the ranch. This didn’t necessarily rattle me, as I’d recently watched Cameron deliver a similar invocation on season one of The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch, the hit History channel show that has generated mainstream attention for the property.

There was the surreal experience of being greeted on the helipad by about half the show’s cast, whom I felt I’d come to know during my hours of binge watching—standing stone-faced and shoulder to shoulder like some official tribunal ready to deliver grim news. Long-suffering ranch superintendent Thomas Winterton, looking typically Marlboro Man, shook my hand first, followed by glowering security chief Bryant “Dragon” Arnold. Erik Bard, the spritely scientist, and red-bearded security man Kaleb Bench chatted nearby. It was as if my arrival was the only thing holding up the start of the season five shoot. When we go inside, Winterton presents me with a liability waiver, which strikes me as highly unusual—there’s nothing on the day’s agenda beyond an in-depth conversation.

But what truly tweaked my antennae was a conversation I’d had an hour earlier, at the Fugals’ hangar in Provo. Brandon was on the phone, tending to his day job as a commercial real-estate titan, and Cameron and I were chatting amiably when he suddenly pivoted from a story about becoming a grandfather. “Every time we bring somebody new, the ranch interacts a little different,” he said. “Usually it’s been mostly mild. I wouldn’t worry about it too much.” This struck me as a roundabout way of saying I should at least be a little worried.

“We’ve had some guys that are like, ‘This is so stupid—we’re gonna show those aliens who’s boss…’” he continued. “And it’s messed with them.”

“What happened to those guys?” I asked. “Something physical, or their cell phones wigged out, or—?”

It was indeed bodily harm, Cameron said. The previous owner, Robert Bigelow, was haunted by the place, both during his time there and after, when “all the negativity followed him home,” Cameron explained. This sounded a little like the aftermath of a bad Red Lobster meal, but I’d seen the entire series at that point, and I knew what he meant. I’d just never thought of it happening to me.

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Salt Lake Tribune journalist fired after offering to buy sexually explicit books for high schoolers

Left-wing Salt Lake Tribune reporter Bryan Schott has been fired after he offered to buy sexually explicit books for high schoolers in Utah, per sources at the Utah legislature. He posted his intentions on social media and backlash promptly ensued. 

On Thursday, Schott took all his associations with the Salt Lake Tribune off his social media profiles and posted: “When news outlets that are supposedly protectors of the first amendment try to curry favor with the far right and wannabe fascists, you should take a hard look at whether that organization is serving the public.”

Earlier last week, Schott posted a list of books that had been taken out of Utah’s public school system that included novels such as “Blankets” by Craig Thompson as well as “Milk and Honey” by Rupi Kaur. In response to Utah taking the list of books out of schools, Schott posted, “These books are now banned in every school library. If you are a high school student who wants to read one of these books (and your parents say it’s ok) I will purchase it for you.”

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Utah Joins Growing Number of States Ignoring Biden Admin’s New Title IX Rule

On June 19, the Utah legislature passed resolutions directing state government entities to ignore the Biden administration’s new interpretation of Title IX, joining numerous other states who have opposed the administration’s proposed expansion of anti-discrimination protections.

The two resolutions, HCR301 and HJR301, declare through “legislative findings” that the new rules are an “overreach of federal administrative authority.”

The issue stems from the Biden administration’s proposed interpretative rule, released in April, which would expand the enforceable scope of Title IX of the Education Amendments Act. Title IX bars discrimination “on the basis of sex”; the Biden administration’s new rule interprets this clause as prohibiting discrimination based on “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.” Opponents say the Department of Education’s new rule could force states to allow biological men to play in women’s sports.

The new rule, which uses 423 pages to clarify a clause that is 37 words long, is set to go into effect on August 1.

But whether it will go into effect is increasingly a matter of dispute. With the passage of the recent resolutions, Utah joins a growing number of states—including Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas—that are officially ignoring the Biden administration’s new Title IX rules. Additionally, 26 state Attorneys General have filed lawsuits against the Department of Education challenging its interpretation.

“We are a sovereign state and do not want the federal government telling us what to do,” Utah state Rep. Trevor Lee (R–Layton) told Reason when asked why he voted in favor of the resolutions. “We decided already on these issues as a state.”

Opponents of the law say the new rule is an incorrect interpretation of the statute and does not reflect the intentions of the original lawmakers. “It is concerning how the Executive Branch is unilaterally altering laws, circumventing Congress and compromising due process, thereby exceeding its constitutional authority,” Utah state Sen. Curt Bramble (R–Provo) told Reason.

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Photos Debunk School & Media Claims that ‘Furry’ Controversy in Utah Was a Hoax

After school officials and the media denied it was happening, photos have now emerged showing ‘furries’ at a middle school in Utah that prompted other students to walk out and stage a protest.

Dozens of students took part in the demonstration at Mt. Nebo Middle School on Wednesday morning after they claimed furries – other children dressing up and acting like animals, were barking at, pouncing on and even biting them.

“They have their little tails, they get down on their hands and knees and they bark at us,” one student at the protest told Conservative radio host Adam Bartholomew.

Others claim they were being sprayed with Febreeze and that school authorities took the side of the furries and told them to just “be nice” and take it.

However, school district spokesperson Seth Sorenson denied the attacks were even happening or that students were dressing up in animal costumes, asserting the claims were wild rumors.

Media outlets then amplified the narrative that the whole thing was just a hoax or a moral panic fueled by inaccurate speculation.

Unfortunately for them, photos have now emerged showing students dressed up as furries exactly as the other children described.

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Utah School Kids Stage Walk Out Protest Against ‘Furries’

Students at a middle school in Utah walked out in protest Wednesday, charging that teachers and officials are allowing other children to identify as animals.

The kids at Mt. Nebo Middle School in Payson said they have had enough of so called ‘furries’ who they charge have growled and barked at them, and even bitten them.

The students made signs saying “Don’t brainwash us,”as well as “Compelled speech is not free speech,” “I will not comply,” and “We just wanted to learn.”

They stood on the side of the road outside the school, saying that their complaints against the ‘furries’ are being ignored.

Livestreamer Adam Bartholomew documented the protest and asked the kids why they were doing it.

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Utah Governor Lets Psychedelics Pilot Program Bill Become Law Without His Signature, Citing ‘Overwhelming Support’

The Republican governor of Utah has allowed a bill to become law without his signature that authorizes a pilot program for hospitals to administer psilocybin and MDMA as an alternative treatment option.

Gov. Spencer Cox (R) said in a letter to legislative leaders last week that he was letting the psychedelics legislation become enacted despite his reservations due to the “overwhelming support” it received, with both chambers unanimously approving the measure.

“I am generally supportive of scientific efforts to discover the benefits of new substances that can relieve suffering,” Cox said. “However, we have a task force that was set up specifically to advise the Legislature on the best ways to study Psilocybin and I’m disappointed that their input was ignored.”

The governor didn’t specify which specific task force recommendations he wanted to see incorporated, but the panel did advise against authorizing the regulated use of psychedelics before they’re approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Lawmakers have cited the panel’s findings to support advancing the pilot program legislation from Senate Majority Whip Kirk Cullimore (R) and House Speaker Pro Tempore James Dunnigan (R).

The newly enacted measure provides for that regulated access at two types of health care systems in the state. Psychedelics can be administered by a privately owned, non-profit health care system with at least 15 licensed hospitals or within medical programs operated by institutions of higher education.

“A healthcare system may develop a behavioral health treatment program that includes a treatment” with psilocybin and MDMA that it “determines is supported by a broad collection of scientific and medical research,” the bill says.

By July 1, 2026, any hospital that establishes a psychedelics therapy pilot program will need to submit a report to the legislature that details which drugs are being utilized, healthcare outcomes of patients and any reported side effects.

The legislation Cox allowed to become enacted will take effect on May 1, 2024 and sunset after three years.

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Utah corrections department discriminated against transgender woman, DOJ says

The Utah Department of Corrections violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it failed to provide a transgender woman with her hormone therapy, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

The state corrections department discriminated against the woman, who is not named in court documents, by denying her equal access to health care services, imposing “unnecessary barriers” to treatment for gender dysphoria and failing to grant her requests for reasonable accommodations, including allowing her to purchase female clothing and makeup at the commissary, a federal investigation found.

Utah’s corrections department also “unnecessarily delayed” the woman’s treatment for her gender dysphoria, a condition with which she had “for many years” before entering the department’s custody in 2021, according to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) findings.

The woman’s psychological distress worsened while she was incarcerated in a men’s prison, federal investigators said, and a health care provider contracted by the state corrections department formally diagnosed her with gender dysphoria — a state of severe distress that stems from a mismatch between a person’s gender identity and sex assigned at birth.

Unlike other requests for medical care, which are typically directed to the state corrections department’s medical staff, a request for treatment for gender dysphoria is sent to the department’s gender dysphoria committee, which federal investigators described as the “gatekeeper” of care.

The committee during the woman’s incarceration included members who demonstrated “overt bias” against transgender individuals seeking care and expressed reluctance to prescribe treatment for gender dysphoria, including hormone therapy, the Justice Department said.

“Complainant’s access to medically necessary care for her disability was unnecessarily delayed due to [the Utah Corrections Department’s] biased and prolonged approval process,” DOJ Disability Rights Chief Rebecca Bond wrote Tuesday in a letter to Brian Redd, executive director of Utah’s corrections department.

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Utah May Soon Ban Non-Existent ‘Satanic Ritual Abuse’

Let me tell you a terrifying fact: 72 percent of the Amazon reviews of the book Satan’s Underground give it 5 stars. If you’re not familiar, the book is the “memoir” of a woman named Lauren Stratford, aka Laurel Rose Wilson, who claimed to have been a victim of Satanic ritual abuse. This is despite the fact that Stratford was outed as a fake decades ago, and that after her claims were thoroughly debunked by the evangelical magazine Cornerstone, she embarked upon a career as fake Holocaust survivor Lauren Grabowski until she was outed by Cornerstone again, along with another fake Holocaust survivor whom she claimed to remember.

This is very easily available information. So easily available that even some of the positive reviewers acknowledge it. They even say that they know that this particular account of Satanic ritual abuse might be nonsense, but that they appreciate the book because they know it for sure happens to other people. Somewhere. This isn’t the kind of thing I should be shocked by, having covered conspiracy theories and Satanic panic and Q-Anonsense for the last million years, and I’m not. I do, however, remain profoundly creeped the fuck out.

Last week, also decades after anyone could even almost reasonably believe that “Satanic ritual abuse” is a real thing outside of their own fevered imaginations, legislators in the state of Utah advanced a bill outlawing “ritual abuse.” This feels pretty deeply ironic given that we have many, many proven instances of actual abuse within the Mormon church and literally zero proven incidents of “Satanic ritual abuse” … anywhere.

The bill has already received a “favorable recommendation” from the House Judiciary committee and a large majority of the Legislature are on board.

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Utah Would Rather Repeal Social Media Age Check Law Than Defend It In Court

Rather than defend a clearly unconstitutional measure passed to “protect” kids from social media, the government of Utah intends to repeal the law.

Last year, Utah became the first state to pass a law limiting minors’ social media use to those who had parental consent and requiring platforms to provide a way for parents to access their kids’ accounts. It kicked off a wave of similar measures in statehouses across the country—laws that would require anyone using social media to prove their age through such methods as submitting biometric data or a government-issued ID.

Now that it faces a pair of challenges in federal court, the state has a new stance: “Psych! We didn’t actually mean it!”

“They know it’s unconstitutional. They know it’s pure grandstanding and culture warrioring,” writes Techdirt editor Mike Masnick. “And they don’t want to face the music for abusing the rights of the citizens who elected them to support the Constitution, not undermine it.”

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