NetChoice v. Ellison
Issue
Whether Minnesota's proposed statutory restrictions on social media platform design features — including algorithmic amplification, engagement-based optimization, and "deceptive patterns" targeting minors — violate the First Amendment's prohibitions on compelled speech and forced hosting of third-party content.
What Happened
NetChoice filed suit in the District of Minnesota challenging the constitutionality of Minnesota legislation whose policy foundations are set out in this Attorney General's report, which was filed as Exhibit 4 to the complaint. The document itself is the Minnesota Attorney General's second annual report on emerging technology and youth well-being, prepared by AG Keith Ellison's office in February 2025 with the assistance of expert Dr. Ravi Iyer and a law clerk; it was submitted to the Legislature pursuant to 2023 Minn. Laws ch. 57, Art. 1, § 4, subd. 3. The report documents alleged harms from platform design choices and AI systems, surveys the existing legislative and legal landscape across jurisdictions, critiques prior regulatory approaches, and proposes specific legislative recommendations — including banning "deceptive patterns," mandating algorithmic amplification limits, and restricting AI chatbot design — accompanied by model bills in the appendices. No court ruling or briefing on the merits is contained in this document.
Why It Matters
The report is significant as an exhibit because it reveals the state's own regulatory theory — that platform liability should attach to *design functions* rather than *content* — a distinction the AG explicitly frames as the constitutionally safer path in light of prior court decisions striking down content-based online speech laws, and which NetChoice is apparently contesting as insufficient to avoid First Amendment scrutiny.
Related Filings
Other proceedings in the same litigation tracked by this monitor.
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