1.1 A bill for an act
1.2 relating to consumer
protection; prohibiting certain social media algorithms that
1.3 target children;proposing
coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 325M.
1.4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
1.5 Section 1. [325M.35]
UNLAWFUL SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITIES.
1.6 Subdivision
1.Definitions. (a) For the purposes of this section, the
following terms have
1.7 the meanings given.
1.8 (b) "Account
holder" means a person who accesses a social media account through a
1.9 social media platform.
1.10 (c) "Recommendation
feature" is a tool or component of a social media platform that
1.11 targets an account
holder with user-generated content using a mechanism that considers,
1.12 evaluates, or is
contingent upon any metric of user engagement, including but not limited
1.13 to the length of time
something is viewed, the amount of time something appears on a screen,
1.14 the time a user spends
on a site, mouse movement, clicks, likes, votes, reactions, comments,
1.15 purchases, saves,
shares, or any other proxy for user-engagement without a user requesting
1.16 to be shown the specific
content. Recommendation features include but are not limited to
1.17 landing pages with
recommended content; recommendations for related content, videos,
1.18 items, or products; and
friend suggestions.
1.19 (d) "Social media
algorithm" means software used by a social media platform to (1)
1.20 prioritize content for
an individual account holder using recommendation features, and (2)
1.21 direct the prioritized
content to the account holder.
2.1 (e) "Social media
platform" means an electronic medium, including a browser-based or
2.2 application-based
interactive computer service, telephone network, or data network, that
2.3 allows users to
create, share, and view user-generated content. Social media platform does
2.4 not include Internet
search providers, Internet service providers, email, or
2.5 short-message-service;
or streaming video service or other Internet website where the content
2.6 is not user-generated
but where interactive functions enable incidental chat, comments, or
2.7 reviews. Social media
platform does not include a communication service, including audio
2.8 and video
communication technology, provided by a business to the business's employees
2.9 and clients for use in
the course of business activities and not for public distribution.
2.10 (f) "User-generated
content" means any content created or shared by an account holder,
2.11 including without
limitation written posts, photographs, graphics, video recordings, or audio
2.12 recordings.
2.13 Subd. 2.Prohibitions;
social media algorithm. (a) A social media platform with more
2.14 than 1,000,000 account
holders globally that operates in Minnesota is prohibited from using
2.15 a social media algorithm
to target user-generated content at an account holder who is under
2.16 the age of 18 and
located in Minnesota, except as provided in subdivision 3. Nothing in this
2.17 section prohibits a
social media platform from:
2.18 (1) allowing
user-generated content to appear in a chronological manner for an account
2.19 holder who is under the
age of 18;
2.20 (2) displaying
user-generated content that has been selected or followed by an account
2.21 holder who is under the
age of 18, as long as the content appears in a chronological manner;
2.22 or
2.23 (3) providing search
results to an account holder who is under the age of 18, if the search
2.24 results are in response
to a specific and immediately preceding query made by the account
2.25 holder.
2.26 (b) A social media
platform subject to this section must require an account holder who
2.27 is under the age of 18
located in Minnesota to obtain verifiable parental consent prior to
2.28 opening a new user
account.
2.29 Subd. 3.Exceptions.
The following are exempt from this section:
2.30 (1) an algorithm,
software, or device that acts as a parental control or is used to filter
2.31 content for
age-appropriate or banned material;
3.1 (2) an internal
control used by the social media platform that is intended to control the
3.2 ability of a minor to
access content or is used to filter content for age-appropriate or banned
3.3 material;
3.4 (3) user-generated
content that is created by a federal, state, or local government; or
3.5 (4) user-generated
content that is created by a public or private school, college, or
3.6 university and used
for educational purposes, including software and applications or
3.7 communication services
or learning management systems that are used by and under the
3.8 supervision or control
of a public or private school, college, or university.
3.9 Subd.
4.Liability; penalties. A social media platform is liable to an
individual account
3.10 holder who received
user-generated content through a social media algorithm while the
3.11 individual account
holder was under the age of 18 and was using the individual account
3.12 holder's own account, if
the social media platform knew or had reason to know that the
3.13 individual account
holder was under the age of 18 and located in Minnesota. A social media
3.14 platform subject to this
paragraph is liable to the account holder for: (1) any general or
3.15 special damages; (2) a
statutory penalty of $1,000 for each violation of this section, provided
3.16 that no individual
account holder may recover more than $100,000 in statutory penalties
3.17 under this subdivision
in any calendar year; and (3) any other penalties available under law.
3.18 Subd. 5.Short
title. This section may be cited as the "Stop Online Targeting
Against
3.19 Kids Act" or
"SOTA Kids Act."
3.20 EFFECTIVE DATE. This
section is effective January 1, 2026.
