News

Utah Department of Commerce’s Division of Consumer Protection to Host 2025 Consumer Protection Symposium

Federal Trade Commissioner Melissa Holyoak and Utah Attorney General Derek Brown are among the distinguished speakers. SALT LAKE CITY, UT — The Utah Division of Consumer Protection (Division) is hosting the 2025 Consumer Protection Symposium on Thursday, October 9, 2025. The symposium brings together state and federal regulators, legal experts, and industry professionals to discuss some of the most pressing...
October 8, 2025
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Consumer Protection
News and Announcements

Utah and the FTC Act to Stop a Deceptive Cancer Charity Fundraising Scheme

Kars-R-Us.com and its operators raised millions, but only a fraction of donations went to fund breast cancer screenings, the FTC and Utah allege  Salt Lake City—Utah and the Federal Trade Commission filed an agreement in federal court today with Kars-R-Us.com and its operators, who are accused of having devised a national charity fraud scheme with more than $45.5 million in...
September 26, 2025
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Consumer Protection
News and Announcements

Utah Sues Snapchat For Unleashing Experimental AI Technology On Young Users While Misrepresenting the Safety of the Platform 

SALT LAKE CITY, UT— Today, Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox, Utah Attorney General Derek Brown, and the Utah Department of Commerce’s Margaret Busse announced a lawsuit against Snap, Inc. (Snap). Utah alleges that Snap profits from unconscionable design features created to addict children to the app, and facilitates illegal drug sales and sextortion. The lawsuit also includes claims related to its AI chatbot, My AI, and comes as states confront the harsh realities of AI technology’s impact on children. The joint filing from Commerce’s Division of Consumer Protection and the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) was filed in State Court on June 30, 2025. ...
June 30, 2025
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Consumer Protection
News and Announcements

Utah sues Meta for child addiction harm and deceiving parents about dangers of Facebook and Instagram 

SALT LAKE CITY – Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox and Attorney General Sean D. Reyes today announced a lawsuit against Meta Platforms, Inc. and its subsidiary Instagram, LLC, over their flagship social media products, Facebook and Instagram. The state alleges that the social media giant has violated the Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act by designing the platforms to trap children in excessive, harmful use that causes serious mental health issues. Meta also deceived parents and young users about the safety of using Instagram and Facebook....
October 24, 2023
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Consumer Protection
Department of Commerce
News and Announcements

Rule for Social Media Regulation Act Published

SALT LAKE CITY—The Utah Office of Administrative Rules has published the Utah Social Media Regulation Act (SMRA) rule, crafted and submitted by the Department of Commerce’s Division of Consumer Protection (Division). The Division invites the public to submit comments on the rule and share experiences with minors on social media platforms at socialmedia.utah.gov until February 5, 2024. A public hearing will be held at the Capitol Senate Building in room 220 on November 1, from 9:00 to 11:00 am....
October 16, 2023
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Department of Commerce
News and Announcements

Utah sues TikTok over child addiction harm, targets “enmeshment” with its China-based parent company

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH — Today, Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox and Attorney General Sean D. Reyes announced a lawsuit against TikTok. After extensive investigation, the state alleges the social media giant illegally baits children into addictive and unhealthy use, blatantly misrepresents the app’s safety, and deceptively portrays itself as independent of its China-based parent company ByteDance....
October 11, 2023
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Consumer Protection
Department of Commerce
News and Announcements

Multi-State Task Force Sues Avid Telecom Over Illegal Robocalls

SALT LAKE CITY, UT – Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes, representing the Utah Division of Consumer Protection, sued Avid Telecom, its owner Michael D. Lansky, and Vice President Stacey S. Reeves today for allegedly initiating and facilitating billions of illegal robocalls to millions of people and violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, and other federal and state telemarketing and consumer laws. Avid Telecom sent or transmitted more than 7.5 billion calls to telephone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry between December 2018 and January 2023 – more than 72 million of which went to numbers in Utah....
May 23, 2023
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Consumer Protection
News and Announcements

FTC and Utah Division of Consumer Protection Suit Leads to Largest Consumer Settlement in Utah History

SALT LAKE CITY, UT – The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Utah Department of Commerce’s Division of Consumer Protection (DCP) have reached a court-ordered settlement with Response Marketing Group, LLC and its principals, who have agreed to pay $15 million and are banned from selling money-making opportunities. The suit brought by DCP and the FTC alleged that Response Marketing used false promises to sell expensive real estate investment training programs. Additionally, two real estate celebrities, Scott Yancey and Dean R. Graziosi, endorsed the training and agreed to pay $1.7 million....
May 22, 2023
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Consumer Protection
News and Announcements