In recent developments from Little Rock, Arkansas, a prominent tech industry advocacy group has taken legal action against the state of Arkansas over two new legislative measures aimed at regulating social media content. These laws, which were enacted with the signature of Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, have sparked controversy over potential overreach and constitutional issues.
The group, NetChoice, filed a formal complaint in the federal court located in Fayetteville, challenging the newly introduced laws. This legal battle arises in the wake of a prior judicial decision that deemed a similar Arkansas law, mandating parental consent for minors to open social media accounts, unconstitutional and subsequently nullified it.
NetChoice, whose membership roster includes social media giants like Meta (Facebook’s parent company) and the platform known as X, contends that Arkansas’ actions represent a persistent disregard for constitutional rights. In response to the lawsuit, a representative for Attorney General Tim Griffin mentioned that their office is currently examining the complaint and is gearing up to defend the law.
The laws under contention include provisions that prohibit social media services from employing any design, algorithm, or feature that could potentially lead users to harm themselves, engage in substance abuse, develop eating disorders, or foster addictions to the platforms themselves. The lawsuit criticizes these provisions as overly ambiguous, lacking clear standards for determining what content would infringe upon these restrictions, and highlights concerns that these laws would impact both adults and minors.
Furthermore, one of the contentious laws permits parents of children who have committed suicide or attempted to do so to initiate legal action against social media companies. This would occur if the children were exposed to content that promotes harmful behaviors or suicide, with potential civil penalties of $10,000 per violation.
NetChoice’s legal challenge also targets another statute attempting to enforce blocked restrictions on social media platforms. This law mandates social media sites to prevent minors from receiving notifications during nighttime hours and ensures that they do not engage in practices that could incite addictive behavior. NetChoice argues that the law’s broad language offers inadequate guidance on compliance, making it difficult to identify what kind of content would be considered illegal.
The lawsuit underscores the subjective nature of what might be deemed “addictive,” noting that the law fails to recognize that perceptions of addiction can vary significantly among individuals. It raises a rhetorical question about the nature of sharing photos among teenagers and whether such a common activity could be construed as fostering addiction.