{"id":113708,"date":"2026-03-06T22:58:41","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T01:58:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.einnews.com\/article\/897726643"},"modified":"2026-03-06T22:58:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T01:58:41","slug":"tech-group-michigan-will-be-sued-over-efforts-to-restrain-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/03\/06\/tech-group-michigan-will-be-sued-over-efforts-to-restrain-social-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Tech group: Michigan will be sued over efforts to restrain social media"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>An influential tech trade group suggested Michigan could be sued if it enacts social media regulations<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>One First Amendment expert who supports the legislation argues the law is on regulators\u2019 side<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>It could draw Michigan into a nationwide legal battle between states and the tech sector<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\">\n<p>LANSING \u2014 Michigan lawmakers, seeking to rein in the influence of social media and artificial intelligence among children, may also draw the state into a nationwide legal battle with major technology companies.<\/p>\n<p>Michigan bill sponsors and advocates for regulating social media companies cast the measures as a necessary public health intervention to protect children, while trade groups representing the tech sector and civil liberties organizations suggest the legislation could infringe on free speech and invade privacy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>At a state Senate committee hearing March 4, bereaved parents, advocates and teens pushed lawmakers to act on a package of bills, citing the alleged harm unfettered access to social media had wrought on youth mental health.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1 \">@media ( min-width: 300px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-1{min-height: 100px;}} <\/aside>\n<p>But NetChoice, an <a href=\"https:\/\/netchoice.org\/about\/#association-members\">influential<\/a> industry association that counts Amazon, Google, Meta and OpenAI among its members, also appeared at the hearing with a warning for lawmakers.<\/p>\n<p>A bill aimed at blocking certain algorithms, late-night notifications, autoplaying videos and engagement-related features for children is \u201cunconstitutional and will expose Michigan taxpayers to costly litigation,\u201d<br \/>Bartlett Cleland, NetChoice\u2019s general counsel, said in committee testimony.<\/p>\n<p>Nancy Costello, a First Amendment expert and professor at the Michigan State University College of Law, challenged Cleland\u2019s assertions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are product designs aimed at maximizing business revenue for social media companies,\u201d Costello said in her testimony. \u201cThis is not about speech. \u2026 This is about product liability law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cleland, for his part, found Costello\u2019s argument \u201cshocking\u201d and argued \u201cit doesn\u2019t hold water under the First Amendment.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2 \">@media ( min-width: 300px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-2{min-height: 100px;}} <\/aside>\n<p>Costello said she \u201cwouldn\u2019t be surprised\u201d if NetChoice sues in response because \u201cthey sue everybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For minors, the package aims to:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ban the use of \u201caddictive algorithms\u201d and design elements like infinite scroll, which sponsors say are tailored to keep users on the site.<\/li>\n<li>Require sites to place minors in the most stringent privacy settings by default.<\/li>\n<li>Ban large language model-driven chatbots, often called AI, from being accessible to minors if they encourage any one of a litany of damaging behaviors such as self-harm or suicide in conversations.<\/li>\n<li>Require age verification or estimation for users to access AI chatbots that could produce adult content.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Some of those features could be accessed by children, provided they get parental permission.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>While it\u2019s still early days for the legislative package \u2014 it would have to pass out of the Democrat-controlled state Senate and win approval in the GOP-majority House before it could be signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer \u2014 many facets of the package have been the subject of lawsuits after passing in other states. Thatindicates Michigan could be the latest front in a multi-state battle over lawmakers\u2019 ability to control the aspects of the internet and social media it deems harmful to children.<\/p>\n<p>Matt Hall, the Republican House Speaker, hasn\u2019t signaled he\u2019d support the package, but Rep. Mark Tisdale, a Rochester Republican who introduced his own social media age verification bill last year, said he would likely support the legislation and believes his colleagues would, too.<\/p>\n<p>Lawsuits from NetChoice in multiple states have had mixed results in court. Cleland noted laws with what he called \u201cidentical constitutional defects\u201d in California, <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/social-media-kids-ohio-netchoice-lawsuit-513f74ba71efb7b38dada637b0f53e6f\">Ohio<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/arkansasadvocate.com\/2025\/12\/16\/federal-court-again-blocks-arkansas-social-media-restrictions\/\">Arkansas<\/a> have seen aspects at least temporarily blocked by federal courts and promised to lawmakers \u201cMichigan\u2019s bill will face the same fate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lawmakers behind the bills, however, remain undeterred by the threat of litigation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a common tactic used by organizations, especially those that have a lot of money and resources, anytime there\u2019s regulation that they don\u2019t want to have to deal with,\u201d said Sen. Kevin Hertel, a St. Clair Shores Democrat who\u2019s a sponsor of the package.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Hertel likened NetChoice\u2019s aggressive approach to cigarette companies who resisted policies that sought to discourage their use decades ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s just another example of big tech companies willing to take any avenue so they don\u2019t have to have any regulations or guardrails,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Costello noted \u201cthe courts are just catching up to this\u201d and \u201cthere\u2019s not a plethora of caselaw,\u201d but cited two examples in which social media algorithms aimed at maximizing engagement have seen legal scrutiny.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A provision in the California law restricting minors\u2019 ability to access personalized feeds has survived <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courthousenews.com\/ninth-circuit-sides-with-california-over-regulating-minors-addictive-social-media-feeds\/\">a lawsuit from NetChoice<\/a>, Costello said, because a federal appeals court chose to draw a distinction between different sorts of algorithms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAn algorithm that responds solely to how users act online, merely giving them the content they appear to want, probably is not\u201d speech protected by the First Amendment, Costello said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Provisions in California\u2019s law blocking adults from interacting with minors on some social media sites have thus far <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courthousenews.com\/ninth-circuit-sides-with-california-over-regulating-minors-addictive-social-media-feeds\/\">survived<\/a> a lawsuit from NetChoice. The Ninth Circuit federal appellate court ruled shielding children from viewing \u201clikes\u201d or comment totals was \u201clikely unconstitutional,\u201d however, blocking that provision.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Social media companies are also largely protected from liability for the content users post on their platforms, thanks to a provision known as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/crs-product\/R46751\">Section 230<\/a> in the 1996 federal Communications Decency Act. But Costello argued that doesn\u2019t always shield companies from regulations over third-party content they feed to users.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In 2024, after a 10-year-old girl died from asphyxiation after coming across a \u201cblackout challenge\u201d through <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Anderson_v._TikTok\">TikTok\u2019s recommendation algorithm<\/a>, a federal appellate panel ruled section 230 couldn\u2019t shield them from litigation.<\/p>\n<p>TikTok \u201cdidn\u2019t just host it. They chose to use the algorithm to feed it, and that was a first-party choice,\u201d Costello said.<\/p>\n<p>Age-verification requirements in particular have appeared vulnerable to legal challenges. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nola.com\/news\/courts\/louisiana-social-media-age-verification-unconstitutional\/article_aec1f16c-aba2-41cb-83b0-9180d953e2c5.html\">Louisiana law<\/a> requiring platforms to verify the age of users was blocked by a federal judge on constitutional grounds in December 2025, granting a permanent injunction against it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a very, very difficult needle to thread to protect our First Amendment rights with regards to trying to protect kids to access things,\u201d Kyle Zawacki, the legislative director for Michigan\u2019s American Civil Liberties Union chapter previously told Bridge Michigan.<\/p>\n<p>The US Supreme Court hasn\u2019t directly taken up the issues yet, but Costello suggested that, with enough states enacting reforms, justices could be persuaded to review the issues.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s a good idea to (pass the legislation), because that\u2019s what creates law,\u201d Costello added. \u201cThat\u2019s what creates regulation.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside> <\/aside>\n<section id=\"republication_tracker_tool-3\" class=\"below-content widget republication_tracker_tool\">\n<div class=\"license\">\n<p><button name=\"Republish This Story\" id=\"cc-btn\" class=\"republication-tracker-tool-button modal\">Republish This Story<\/button><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"license\" rel=\"noreferrer license\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/\"><img data-opt-id=758893364  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==\" fifu-lazy=\"1\" fifu-data-sizes=\"auto\" fifu-data-srcset=\"https:\/\/mlmjbqro95r8.i.optimole.com\/cb:bOxR.6a5\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/bridgemi.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/republication-tracker-tool\/assets\/img\/cc-by-nd-4.0.png?ssl=1&w=75&resize=75&ssl=1 75w, https:\/\/mlmjbqro95r8.i.optimole.com\/cb:bOxR.6a5\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/bridgemi.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/republication-tracker-tool\/assets\/img\/cc-by-nd-4.0.png?ssl=1&w=100&resize=100&ssl=1 100w, https:\/\/mlmjbqro95r8.i.optimole.com\/cb:bOxR.6a5\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/bridgemi.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/republication-tracker-tool\/assets\/img\/cc-by-nd-4.0.png?ssl=1&w=150&resize=150&ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/mlmjbqro95r8.i.optimole.com\/cb:bOxR.6a5\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/bridgemi.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/republication-tracker-tool\/assets\/img\/cc-by-nd-4.0.png?ssl=1&w=240&resize=240&ssl=1 240w, https:\/\/mlmjbqro95r8.i.optimole.com\/cb:bOxR.6a5\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/bridgemi.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/republication-tracker-tool\/assets\/img\/cc-by-nd-4.0.png?ssl=1&w=320&resize=320&ssl=1 320w, https:\/\/mlmjbqro95r8.i.optimole.com\/cb:bOxR.6a5\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/bridgemi.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/republication-tracker-tool\/assets\/img\/cc-by-nd-4.0.png?ssl=1&w=500&resize=500&ssl=1 500w, https:\/\/mlmjbqro95r8.i.optimole.com\/cb:bOxR.6a5\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/bridgemi.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/republication-tracker-tool\/assets\/img\/cc-by-nd-4.0.png?ssl=1&w=640&resize=640&ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/mlmjbqro95r8.i.optimole.com\/cb:bOxR.6a5\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/bridgemi.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/republication-tracker-tool\/assets\/img\/cc-by-nd-4.0.png?ssl=1&w=800&resize=800&ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/mlmjbqro95r8.i.optimole.com\/cb:bOxR.6a5\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/bridgemi.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/republication-tracker-tool\/assets\/img\/cc-by-nd-4.0.png?ssl=1&w=1024&resize=1024&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/mlmjbqro95r8.i.optimole.com\/cb:bOxR.6a5\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/bridgemi.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/republication-tracker-tool\/assets\/img\/cc-by-nd-4.0.png?ssl=1&w=1280&resize=1280&ssl=1 1280w, https:\/\/mlmjbqro95r8.i.optimole.com\/cb:bOxR.6a5\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/bridgemi.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/republication-tracker-tool\/assets\/img\/cc-by-nd-4.0.png?ssl=1&w=1600&resize=1600&ssl=1 1600w\" width=\"88\" height=\"31\" alt=\"Creative Commons License\" fifu-data-src=\"https:\/\/mlmjbqro95r8.i.optimole.com\/cb:bOxR.6a5\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/bridgemi.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/republication-tracker-tool\/assets\/img\/cc-by-nd-4.0.png?ssl=1\"><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blockads.fivefilters.org\"> <\/a><\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/blockads.fivefilters.org\/acceptable.html\"> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8230; legal battle between states and the <span class=\"match\">tech<\/span> sector LANSING \u00e2\u0080\u0094 Michigan lawmakers, &#8230; nationwide legal battle with major <span class=\"match\">technology<\/span> companies. Michigan bill sponsors and &#8230; children, while trade groups representing the <span class=\"match\">tech<\/span> sector and civil liberties organizations &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113708\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}