Tech industry group sues Arkansas over new social media laws

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A tech industry trade group sued Arkansas Friday over two new laws that would place limits on content on social media platforms and would allow parents of children who killed themselves to sue over content on the platforms.

The lawsuit by NetChoice filed in federal court in Fayetteville, Arkansas, comes months after a federal judge struck down a state law requiring parental consent before minors can create new social media accounts. The new laws were signed by Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders earlier this year.

“Despite the overwhelming consensus that laws like the Social Media Safety Act are unconstitutional, Arkansas elected to respond to this Court’s decision not by repealing the provisions that it held unconstitutional but by instead doubling down on its overreach,” NetChoice said in its lawsuit.

Arkansas is among several states that have been enacting restrictions on social media, prompted by concerns about the impact on children’s mental health. NetChoice — whose members include TikTok, Facebook parent Meta, and the social platform X — challenged Arkansas’ 2023 age-verification law for social media. A federal judge who initially blocked the law struck it down in March.

Similar laws have been blocked by judges in Florida and Georgia.

A spokesperson for Attorney General Tim Griffin said his office was reviewing the latest complaint and looked forward to defending the law.

One of the new laws being challenged prohibits social media platforms from using a design, algorithm or feature it “knows or should have known through the exercise of reasonable care” would cause a user to kill themself, purchase a controlled substance, develop an eating disorder, develop an addiction to the platform.

The lawsuit said that provision is unconstitutionally vague and doesn’t offer guidance on how to determine which content would violate those restrictions, and the suit notes it would restrict content for both adults and minors. The suit questions whether songs that mention drugs, such as Afroman’s “Because I Got High,” would be prohibited under the new law.

The law being challenged also would allow parents whose children have died by suicide or attempted to take their lives to sue social media companies if they were exposed to content promoting or advancing self-harm and suicide. The companies could face civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation.

NetChoice is also challenging another law that attempts to expand Arkansas’ blocked restrictions on social media companies. That measure would require social media platforms to ensure minors don’t receive notifications between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

The measure also would require social media companies to ensure their platform “does not engage in practices to evoke any addiction or compulsive behavior.” The suit argues that the law doesn’t explain how to comply with that restriction and is so broadly written that it’s unclear what kind of posts or material would violate it.

“What is ‘addictive’ to some minors may not be addictive to others. Does allowing teens to share photos with each other evoke addiction?” the lawsuit said.