Stop Harms from Addictive Social Media
MN Addictive Social Media (Minors)
Children · Marketing · Biometric · Location
Signed May 26, 2026 and effective July 1, 2027, this law requires large social media platforms to estimate users' ages, obtain verifiable parental consent before creating or keeping accounts for children 15 and under, set children's accounts to the most private settings, and give parents time-limit tools. It bars addictive features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, and profile-based feeds, and bars targeted advertising, in children's accounts, and forbids selling or disclosing children's account information.
- Where
- Minnesota
- Citation
- Minn. Stat. 325M.40 (Laws 2026, ch. 111, s. 2)
- Status
- Enacted, not yet in force
- In force since
- 2027-07-01
- Enforced by
- Private action by children and parents; Minnesota Attorney General under 8.31 for knowing or reckless violations (325M.40, subds. 9-10)
- People can sue
- Yes
- Penalties
- Children and parents may sue for declaratory or injunctive relief, damages, costs, and attorney fees; for reckless or knowing violations, the greater of actual damages or $10,000 in statutory damages, and punitive damages for a consistent pattern (325M.40, subd. 9). Knowing or reckless violations are deceptive trade practices under 325D.44 enforceable by the Attorney General (subd. 10). Reasonable-efforts defense (subd. 9(d)).
- Applies to
- Covered social media platforms: platforms with 10,000 or more account holders or at least $1 billion in worldwide revenue in any of the prior three years that use addictive interface features, profile-based feeds, or targeted paid advertising (325M.40, subd. 1(e), (k))
- Protects children age 15 or younger residing in Minnesota; applies to accounts created before, on, or after July 1, 2027
Rights it gives people
- Terminate a child's account within 7 days of the child's request or 14 days of a verified parent's request, and terminate accounts identified as children's absent parental consent after a 30-day dispute window.Minn. Stat. 325M.40, subd. 6 · From 2027-07-01
Practices it requires
- Ask applicants for birth month and year without a default, and do not create or keep a child's account, or change its terms, without verifiable parental consent; use consent information only for that purpose.Minn. Stat. 325M.40, subd. 3 · From 2027-07-01
- Set all privacy settings on a child's account to the most private level, do not change them while the holder is a child, and offer parents tools to monitor time and set daily, weekly, and time-of-day limits.Minn. Stat. 325M.40, subd. 4(a)-(c) · From 2027-07-01
- Estimate the age of new account holders after 25 hours of use in six months (80 percent confidence that the user is 16 or older, otherwise treat as a child), revise after 50 hours (90 percent confidence), and update at least every six months.Minn. Stat. 325M.40, subd. 2 · From 2027-07-01
- Do not present addictive interface features (infinite scroll, profile-based feeds, engagement push notifications, autoplay, reaction metrics, usage badges) or targeted paid commercial advertising in a child's account.Minn. Stat. 325M.40, subd. 1(c), subd. 5 · From 2027-07-01
- Do not sell, transfer, or disclose information collected on a child's account except as required by law.Minn. Stat. 325M.40, subd. 4(d) · From 2027-07-01
Other duties
- Keep records sufficient to show verifiable parental consent; contract terms waiving the section or formed in violation are void.Minn. Stat. 325M.40, subds. 7-8 · From 2027-07-01
Sources
Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.
Unverified: No litigation against 325M.40 was found as of 2026-09-25; not exhaustively searched.
Research reference, not legal advice.