Tech industry group sues Arkansas over new social media laws
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 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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
a few seconds ago
- Hindustan Times
US top medical body excludes health experts from vaccine advisory process
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told physician groups, public health professionals and infectious disease experts that they will no longer be invited to help review vaccine data and develop recommendations, according to an email viewed by Bloomberg. The panel's recommendations are important for vaccine access as they help determine which shots insurers are required to cover for free for patients. (Reuters file) The move marks an escalation in Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s efforts to assert control over the CDC's vaccine advisory process. Under the change, external experts will be excluded from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices' working groups — subcommittees that review data and develop policy recommendations — but they will still be able to participate in open public meetings. The panel's recommendations are important for vaccine access as they help determine which shots insurers are required to cover for free for patients. Kennedy in June fired all its members and replaced them with his own picks, including members who have criticized the safety of the Covid vaccine. 'It is important that the ACIP workgroup activities remain free of influence from any special interest groups, so ACIP workgroups will no longer include liaison organizations,' the email said. It also characterized the groups as biased 'based on their constituency and/or population that they represent.' The CDC referred a request for comment to HHS. A spokesperson for HHS did not immediately respond. Noel Brewer, a professor of public health at the University of North Carolina and former member of ACIP who was ousted by Kennedy, said the working groups have long relied on the input of pediatricians, family physicians, gynecologists, nurses and other health professionals to ensure recommendations met the needs of patients and providers. 'This is a huge loss that will be very damaging to medical care,' Brewer said. Some of the groups that will be excluded from private deliberations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Infectious Diseases Society of America, sued Kennedy this month over his unilateral decision to change federal Covid vaccine recommendations for children and pregnant women. The panel has become more high profile amid scrutiny of Kennedy's approach to vaccination policy. After Kennedy's confirmation, Republican Senator Bill Cassidy said that Kennedy had committed to maintaining the CDC's vaccine panel 'without changes.'
Economic Times
30 minutes ago
- Economic Times
White House announces new $200 mn ballroom as part of Trump's latest makeover of 'The People's House'
The White House on Thursday announced that construction on a massive, new $200 million ballroom will begin in September and be ready before President Donald Trump 's term ends in early 2029. It will be the latest change introduced to what's known as "The People's House" since the Republican president returned to office in January. It also will be the first structural change to the Executive Mansion itself since the addition of the Truman balcony in 1948. Trump has substantially redecorated the Oval Office through the addition of golden flourishes and cherubs, presidential portraits and other items, and installed massive flagpoles on the north and south lawns to fly the American flag. Workers are currently finishing up a project to replace the lawn in the Rose Garden with stone. Trump for months has been promising to build a ballroom, saying the White House doesn't have space big enough for large events and scoffing at the notion of hosting heads of state and other guests in tents on the lawn as past administrations have done for state dinners attended by hundreds of guests. The East Room, the largest room in the the White House, can accommodate about 200 people. Trump said he's been planning the construction for some time. "They've wanted a ballroom at the White House for more than 150 years but there's never been a president that was good at ballrooms," Trump told reporters Thursday. "I'm good at building things and we're going to build quickly and on time. It'll be beautiful, top, top of the line." He said the new ballroom would not interfere with the mansion itself. "It'll be near it but not touching it and pays total respect to the existing building, which I'm the biggest fan of," he said of the White House. "It's my favorite. It's my favorite place. I love it." Trump said the ballroom will serve administrations to come. "It'll be a great legacy project," he said. "I think it will be really beautiful." The 90,000-square-foot ballroom will be built where the East Wing sits with a seated capacity of 650 people. The East Wing houses several offices, including the first lady's. Those offices will be temporarily relocated during construction and that wing of the building will be modernized and renovated, said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. "Nothing will be torn down," she said. White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said the president, whose early career was in real estate and construction, and his White House are "fully committed" to working with the appropriate organizations to preserve the mansion's "special history." "President Trump is a builder at heart and has an extraordinary eye for detail," Wiles said in a statement. Leavitt said at her briefing Thursday that Trump and other donors have committed to raising the approximately $200 million in construction costs. She did not name any of the other donors. Renderings of what the future ballroom will look like were posted on the White House website. The president chose McCrery Architects, based in Washington, as lead architect on the project. The construction team will be led by Clark Construction. Engineering will be provided by AECOM. Trump also has another project in mind. He told NBC News in an interview that he intends to replace what he said was a "terribly" remodeled bathroom in the famous Lincoln Bedroom with one that is closer in style to the 19-th century.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
White House announces new $200 mn ballroom as part of Trump's latest makeover of 'The People's House'
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The White House on Thursday announced that construction on a massive, new $200 million ballroom will begin in September and be ready before President Donald Trump 's term ends in early will be the latest change introduced to what's known as " The People's House " since the Republican president returned to office in January. It also will be the first structural change to the Executive Mansion itself since the addition of the Truman balcony in has substantially redecorated the Oval Office through the addition of golden flourishes and cherubs, presidential portraits and other items, and installed massive flagpoles on the north and south lawns to fly the American flag. Workers are currently finishing up a project to replace the lawn in the Rose Garden with for months has been promising to build a ballroom, saying the White House doesn't have space big enough for large events and scoffing at the notion of hosting heads of state and other guests in tents on the lawn as past administrations have done for state dinners attended by hundreds of East Room, the largest room in the the White House, can accommodate about 200 said he's been planning the construction for some time."They've wanted a ballroom at the White House for more than 150 years but there's never been a president that was good at ballrooms," Trump told reporters Thursday. "I'm good at building things and we're going to build quickly and on time. It'll be beautiful, top, top of the line."He said the new ballroom would not interfere with the mansion itself."It'll be near it but not touching it and pays total respect to the existing building, which I'm the biggest fan of," he said of the White House. "It's my favorite. It's my favorite place. I love it."Trump said the ballroom will serve administrations to come."It'll be a great legacy project," he said. "I think it will be really beautiful."The 90,000-square-foot ballroom will be built where the East Wing sits with a seated capacity of 650 people. The East Wing houses several offices, including the first lady's. Those offices will be temporarily relocated during construction and that wing of the building will be modernized and renovated, said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt."Nothing will be torn down," she House chief of staff Susie Wiles said the president, whose early career was in real estate and construction, and his White House are "fully committed" to working with the appropriate organizations to preserve the mansion's "special history.""President Trump is a builder at heart and has an extraordinary eye for detail," Wiles said in a said at her briefing Thursday that Trump and other donors have committed to raising the approximately $200 million in construction costs. She did not name any of the other of what the future ballroom will look like were posted on the White House president chose McCrery Architects , based in Washington, as lead architect on the project. The construction team will be led by Clark Construction . Engineering will be provided by also has another project in mind. He told NBC News in an interview that he intends to replace what he said was a "terribly" remodeled bathroom in the famous Lincoln Bedroom with one that is closer in style to the 19-th century.
