Minnesota's social media health warning law takes effect Wednesday. Here's what you need to know.
Starting Wednesday, you could see new health warnings when you open TikTok, Facebook or Instagram.
If companies abide by the Minnesota law taking effect July 1, users will have to acknowledge a warning about potential mental health risks each time they open certain social media platforms. It also includes information for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
"Depression, anxiety, self-harm, eating disorders, suicidal ideation all dramatically increase because of social media use, and Minnesotans deserve to know about that if they're using this product, the same way they deserve to about the increased risk of cancer if you're smoking cigarettes," said DFL Rep. Zack Stephenson.
Supporters say the warning is intended to get people thinking about how much time they're spending online.
LiveMore ScreenLess is a nonprofit advocating and promoting digital well-being for and with young people.
"This is a step, an intervention, maybe a correction," said Katherine Myers, executive director of LiveMore ScreenLess. "We hope that it can help our whole society to pause and reconsider time spent on a device and then think about what else do I want to be doing?"
In April, social media companies represented by the lobbying group NetChoice sued Minnesota to challenge the warning requirement. The group, which represents tech companies like Meta and Google, says in the lawsuit that the law is a direct violation of the First Amendment. A judge has yet to rule
"You don't put warning labels from the government on books that might contain speech that people find distasteful or that people don't like," said Paul Taske, director of the NetChoice Litigation Center. "They are free to talk to parents directly, talk to minors directly but what they can't do is force other people, in this case websites, to adopt their messages for them."
"They'll say anything, do anything to protect the ridiculous profits they're making," said Stephenson.
"I'm hoping that this bill will be an entry point for parents to have a conversation with their children about the impacts," said Myers. "Like, why is this there? Is this helpful for us? What else can we be talking about?"
The Minnesota Attorney General's Office released a statement to WCCO, saying it is waiting for the judge's ruling before enforcement. Here's the full statement.
"The Minnesota Attorney General's Office is committed to defending state laws and protecting Minnesotans from the harms that can be caused by social media platforms, as evidenced by Attorney General Ellison's ongoing litigation against both TikTok and Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, for addicting and harming the mental health of young people," spokesperson Brian Evans said. "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."
Minnesota joins California, Colorado and New York as the fourth state to pass a social media warning label requirement. In Colorado, the U.S. District Court temporarily halted the law noting it likely violates the First Amendment.
