The MN Attorney General Office’s says it’s not enforcing the law while the courts decide whether to dismiss a lawsuit filed against it.
A new state law mandating warnings on all social media apps is now on hold after it was supposed to take effect on July 1.
Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office said it’s not enforcing the new health warnings as a lawsuit from big tech companies plays out in court. In a statement, a spokesperson wrote, “The social media warning label legislation is important, and the Attorney General’s Office is defending it vigorously by filing a motion to dismiss NetChoice’s lawsuit. The Office agreed not to immediately enforce the law in order to give the Court breathing room to rule on the motion to dismiss. If the Court dismisses NetChoice’s lawsuit, the Attorney General will enforce the law according to its terms.
“NetChoice says it represents the interests of the wider industry and filed the lawsuit at the end of April. In a statement Wednesday, Director of the NetChoice Litigation Center Paul Taske wrote, “Minnesota is trying to force websites to broadcast the government’s own subjective views about social media, and the First Amendment does not allow the state to compel that speech. We are confident we will prove to the court that this law is unconstitutional.”
The American Psychological Association says U.S. teenagers spend an average of 4.8 hours a day on social media.
“It is notable; it is problematic to a degree,” said Dr. Joshua Stein, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at PrairieCare.
He supports Minnesota’s new law, particularly the part of the label that references the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
“That makes me hopeful,” said Dr. Stein. “You want to have as few obstacles to seeking care as possible.”
Earlier this year, mental health experts also launched another system to try and protect kids mental health online. Dr. Dan Reidenberg designed the Safe Online Standards – a first-of-its-kind rating system for online technology companies.
“Young people have no idea how to tell how safe or not safe these platforms are,” said Dr. Reidenberg, an internationally recognized leader in suicide prevention and mental health.
The companies assess their platform based on more than 150 standards that are then independently rated by experts around the world. They are then assigned one of five ratings – the first of which Dr. Reidenberg says will be released in September for Meta, TikTok and Snap Inc.
“I think the companies really feel that these are really pretty fair,” said Dr. Reidenberg. “They’re pretty safe and balanced and we’re really looking at things that really should be helping young people live better health and well-being online.”
As for the local labels, it’s unclear when the legal process will be finished, but when and if the suit is dismissed the attorney general’s office said failure to comply could result in a fine.
Originally published KARE 11.