• by Wendy Davis , Yesterday

Minnesota is pressing a federal judge to reject NetChoice's bid to block a new law that requires social platforms to display cigarette-style warning labels every time someone accesses a platform.

"The warning label is commercial speech that furthers compelling interests in ensuring Minnesotans receive accurate information about their well-being," state Attorney General Keith Ellison argues in papers filed Wednesday with U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Brasel.

The Minnesota statute requires social-media companies to display a "conspicuous mental health warning label" when users access the platforms. The law also says that label must remain on the site until a user either exits the platform or "acknowledges the potential for harm and chooses to proceed to the social media platform despite the risk."

The measure tasks the state health department with developing guidelines for the text of the warning labels.

The health department is currently calling for a label that reads: "THE STATE OF MINNESOTA REQUIRES THIS MESSAGE: Some studies have shown that too much social media use is linked to increased mental health symptoms, including anxiety and depression, as well as harm to diet, sleep, and body image. If you need help, call or text 988 or visit 988Lifeline.org."

NetChoice -- which represents large companies including Google, Meta and Snap -- argues that mandating this warning violates the First Amendment by requiring platforms "to speak the state’s message on the highly controversial topic of 'potential negative mental health impacts' of social media on users."

The group contends that the law actually reflects "contested policy judgments," adding that the text of the warning label lacks key information about its terms -- including what "studies" are referenced, and what is meant by "too much" social-media use.

Ellison counters that the warning is "purely factual."

"Myriad studies ... show that excessive social media use is linked to the outcomes the Warning Label addresses," the attorney general argues in a motion asking Brasel to throw out NetChoice's lawsuit.

He adds that the label merely conveys a correlation between social media use and psychological harms, as opposed to stating that social media causes harm.

"While the causal link between social media and negative health outcomes may be controversial, their correlation is not," Ellison argues.

Brasel has not yet indicated when she will issue a ruling.