Minnesota’s law contains a broad enforcement provision allowing the attorney general to take unspecified actions against companies that fail to comply.
Jane Kirtley, a media ethics and law professor at the University of Minnesota, said challenges that say a law is vague or overly broad have been successful in the past, with courts finding that the laws violate the First Amendment. If a person cannot be sure what expressive activities are prohibited under the law, she said, the Supreme Court has concluded that people would be more likely to self-censor or avoid conduct that might run afoul with a law — thereby chilling free speech.
Kirtley also said that as states have attempted to regulate social media, judges have ruled that First Amendment protections must remain intact even as new technology changes the way people communicate and find information online.
“Just because you’re dealing with these new digital platforms doesn’t mean that the First Amendment principles go away,” she said.
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