WHAT THIS BILL REGULATES · 1 REQUIREMENT TYPE
How Is This Bill Enforced
Verbatim statutory text on the left; plain-language analysis and a per-section checklist on the right. Numbered markers cross-link to the matching checklist row.
(a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the meanings given.
(b) "Account holderAccount holder"Account holder" means a person who accesses a social media account through a social media platform.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(b)" means a person who accesses a social media account through a social media platformSocial media platform"Social media platform" means an electronic medium, including a browser-based or application-based interactive computer service, telephone network, or data network, that allows users to create, share, and view user-generated content. Social media platform does not include Internet search providers, Internet service providers, email, or short-message-service; or streaming video service or other Internet website where the content is not user-generated but where interactive functions enable incidental chat, comments, or reviews. Social media platform does not include a communication service, including audio and video communication technology, provided by a business to the business's employees and clients for use in the course of business activities and not for public distribution.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(e).
(c) "Recommendation featureRecommendation feature"Recommendation feature" is a tool or component of a social media platform that targets an account holder with user-generated content using a mechanism that considers, evaluates, or is contingent upon any metric of user engagement, including but not limited to the length of time something is viewed, the amount of time something appears on a screen, the time a user spends on a site, mouse movement, clicks, likes, votes, reactions, comments, purchases, saves, shares, or any other proxy for user-engagement without a user requesting to be shown the specific content. Recommendation features include but are not limited to landing pages with recommended content; recommendations for related content, videos, items, or products; and friend suggestions.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(c)" is a tool or component of a social media platformSocial media platform"Social media platform" means an electronic medium, including a browser-based or application-based interactive computer service, telephone network, or data network, that allows users to create, share, and view user-generated content. Social media platform does not include Internet search providers, Internet service providers, email, or short-message-service; or streaming video service or other Internet website where the content is not user-generated but where interactive functions enable incidental chat, comments, or reviews. Social media platform does not include a communication service, including audio and video communication technology, provided by a business to the business's employees and clients for use in the course of business activities and not for public distribution.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(e) that targets an account holderAccount holder"Account holder" means a person who accesses a social media account through a social media platform.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(b) with user-generated contentUser-generated content"User-generated content" means any content created or shared by an account holder, including without limitation written posts, photographs, graphics, video recordings, or audio recordings.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(f) using a mechanism that considers, evaluates, or is contingent upon any metric of user engagement, including but not limited to the length of time something is viewed, the amount of time something appears on a screen, the time a user spends on a site, mouse movement, clicks, likes, votes, reactions, comments, purchases, saves, shares, or any other proxy for user-engagement without a user requesting to be shown the specific content. Recommendation featuresRecommendation feature"Recommendation feature" is a tool or component of a social media platform that targets an account holder with user-generated content using a mechanism that considers, evaluates, or is contingent upon any metric of user engagement, including but not limited to the length of time something is viewed, the amount of time something appears on a screen, the time a user spends on a site, mouse movement, clicks, likes, votes, reactions, comments, purchases, saves, shares, or any other proxy for user-engagement without a user requesting to be shown the specific content. Recommendation features include but are not limited to landing pages with recommended content; recommendations for related content, videos, items, or products; and friend suggestions.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(c) include but are not limited to landing pages with recommended content; recommendations for related content, videos, items, or products; and friend suggestions.
(d) "Social media algorithmSocial media algorithm"Social media algorithm" means software used by a social media platform to (1) prioritize content for an individual account holder using recommendation features, and (2) direct the prioritized content to the account holder.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(d)" means software used by a social media platformSocial media platform"Social media platform" means an electronic medium, including a browser-based or application-based interactive computer service, telephone network, or data network, that allows users to create, share, and view user-generated content. Social media platform does not include Internet search providers, Internet service providers, email, or short-message-service; or streaming video service or other Internet website where the content is not user-generated but where interactive functions enable incidental chat, comments, or reviews. Social media platform does not include a communication service, including audio and video communication technology, provided by a business to the business's employees and clients for use in the course of business activities and not for public distribution.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(e) to (1) prioritize content for an individual account holderAccount holder"Account holder" means a person who accesses a social media account through a social media platform.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(b) using recommendation featuresRecommendation feature"Recommendation feature" is a tool or component of a social media platform that targets an account holder with user-generated content using a mechanism that considers, evaluates, or is contingent upon any metric of user engagement, including but not limited to the length of time something is viewed, the amount of time something appears on a screen, the time a user spends on a site, mouse movement, clicks, likes, votes, reactions, comments, purchases, saves, shares, or any other proxy for user-engagement without a user requesting to be shown the specific content. Recommendation features include but are not limited to landing pages with recommended content; recommendations for related content, videos, items, or products; and friend suggestions.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(c), and (2) direct the prioritized content to the account holderAccount holder"Account holder" means a person who accesses a social media account through a social media platform.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(b).
(e) "Social media platformSocial media platform"Social media platform" means an electronic medium, including a browser-based or application-based interactive computer service, telephone network, or data network, that allows users to create, share, and view user-generated content. Social media platform does not include Internet search providers, Internet service providers, email, or short-message-service; or streaming video service or other Internet website where the content is not user-generated but where interactive functions enable incidental chat, comments, or reviews. Social media platform does not include a communication service, including audio and video communication technology, provided by a business to the business's employees and clients for use in the course of business activities and not for public distribution.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(e)" means an electronic medium, including a browser-based or application-based interactive computer service, telephone network, or data network, that allows users to create, share, and view user-generated contentUser-generated content"User-generated content" means any content created or shared by an account holder, including without limitation written posts, photographs, graphics, video recordings, or audio recordings.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(f). Social media platformSocial media platform"Social media platform" means an electronic medium, including a browser-based or application-based interactive computer service, telephone network, or data network, that allows users to create, share, and view user-generated content. Social media platform does not include Internet search providers, Internet service providers, email, or short-message-service; or streaming video service or other Internet website where the content is not user-generated but where interactive functions enable incidental chat, comments, or reviews. Social media platform does not include a communication service, including audio and video communication technology, provided by a business to the business's employees and clients for use in the course of business activities and not for public distribution.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(e) does not include Internet search providers, Internet service providers, email, or short-message-service; or streaming video service or other Internet website where the content is not user-generated but where interactive functions enable incidental chat, comments, or reviews. Social media platformSocial media platform"Social media platform" means an electronic medium, including a browser-based or application-based interactive computer service, telephone network, or data network, that allows users to create, share, and view user-generated content. Social media platform does not include Internet search providers, Internet service providers, email, or short-message-service; or streaming video service or other Internet website where the content is not user-generated but where interactive functions enable incidental chat, comments, or reviews. Social media platform does not include a communication service, including audio and video communication technology, provided by a business to the business's employees and clients for use in the course of business activities and not for public distribution.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(e) does not include a communication service, including audio and video communication technology, provided by a business to the business's employees and clients for use in the course of business activities and not for public distribution.
(f) "User-generated contentUser-generated content"User-generated content" means any content created or shared by an account holder, including without limitation written posts, photographs, graphics, video recordings, or audio recordings.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(f)" means any content created or shared by an account holderAccount holder"Account holder" means a person who accesses a social media account through a social media platform.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(b), including without limitation written posts, photographs, graphics, video recordings, or audio recordings.
Subdivision 1 establishes the defined terms that govern the scope of the SOTA Kids Act. The definition of social media platform is broad — covering any electronic medium allowing users to create, share, and view user-generated content — but expressly carves out search engines, ISPs, email, SMS, streaming services with only incidental interactivity, and internal business communication tools. The definition of recommendation feature is unusually expansive, encompassing any mechanism contingent on any metric of user engagement, including passive signals such as mouse movement and time-on-screen.
(a) 1 A social media platformSocial media platform"Social media platform" means an electronic medium, including a browser-based or application-based interactive computer service, telephone network, or data network, that allows users to create, share, and view user-generated content. Social media platform does not include Internet search providers, Internet service providers, email, or short-message-service; or streaming video service or other Internet website where the content is not user-generated but where interactive functions enable incidental chat, comments, or reviews. Social media platform does not include a communication service, including audio and video communication technology, provided by a business to the business's employees and clients for use in the course of business activities and not for public distribution.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(e) with more than 1,000,000 account holdersAccount holder"Account holder" means a person who accesses a social media account through a social media platform.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(b) globally that operates in Minnesota is prohibited from using a social media algorithmSocial media algorithm"Social media algorithm" means software used by a social media platform to (1) prioritize content for an individual account holder using recommendation features, and (2) direct the prioritized content to the account holder.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(d) to target user-generated contentUser-generated content"User-generated content" means any content created or shared by an account holder, including without limitation written posts, photographs, graphics, video recordings, or audio recordings.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(f) at an account holderAccount holder"Account holder" means a person who accesses a social media account through a social media platform.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(b) who is under the age of 18 and located in Minnesota, except as provided in subdivision 3. Nothing in this section prohibits a social media platformSocial media platform"Social media platform" means an electronic medium, including a browser-based or application-based interactive computer service, telephone network, or data network, that allows users to create, share, and view user-generated content. Social media platform does not include Internet search providers, Internet service providers, email, or short-message-service; or streaming video service or other Internet website where the content is not user-generated but where interactive functions enable incidental chat, comments, or reviews. Social media platform does not include a communication service, including audio and video communication technology, provided by a business to the business's employees and clients for use in the course of business activities and not for public distribution.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(e) from: (1) allowing user-generated contentUser-generated content"User-generated content" means any content created or shared by an account holder, including without limitation written posts, photographs, graphics, video recordings, or audio recordings.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(f) to appear in a chronological manner for an account holderAccount holder"Account holder" means a person who accesses a social media account through a social media platform.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(b) who is under the age of 18; (2) displaying user-generated contentUser-generated content"User-generated content" means any content created or shared by an account holder, including without limitation written posts, photographs, graphics, video recordings, or audio recordings.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(f) that has been selected or followed by an account holderAccount holder"Account holder" means a person who accesses a social media account through a social media platform.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(b) who is under the age of 18, as long as the content appears in a chronological manner; or (3) providing search results to an account holderAccount holder"Account holder" means a person who accesses a social media account through a social media platform.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(b) who is under the age of 18, if the search results are in response to a specific and immediately preceding query made by the account holderAccount holder"Account holder" means a person who accesses a social media account through a social media platform.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(b).
(b) 2 A social media platformSocial media platform"Social media platform" means an electronic medium, including a browser-based or application-based interactive computer service, telephone network, or data network, that allows users to create, share, and view user-generated content. Social media platform does not include Internet search providers, Internet service providers, email, or short-message-service; or streaming video service or other Internet website where the content is not user-generated but where interactive functions enable incidental chat, comments, or reviews. Social media platform does not include a communication service, including audio and video communication technology, provided by a business to the business's employees and clients for use in the course of business activities and not for public distribution.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(e) subject to this section must require an account holderAccount holder"Account holder" means a person who accesses a social media account through a social media platform.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(b) who is under the age of 18 located in Minnesota to obtain verifiable parental consent prior to opening a new user account.
Subdivision 2 contains the bill's two core operative obligations. Paragraph (a) prohibits covered social media platforms — those with more than 1 million global account holders operating in Minnesota — from using engagement-based recommendation algorithms to target user-generated content at account holders under 18 located in Minnesota. The prohibition is broad: it encompasses any algorithmic content prioritization driven by engagement metrics, but preserves three safe harbors — chronological display, display of content the minor has affirmatively selected or followed (if shown chronologically), and search results responsive to a minor's specific query.
Paragraph (b) imposes a separate parental-consent obligation, requiring covered platforms to obtain verifiable parental consent before a minor in Minnesota may open a new account. The bill does not define what constitutes verifiable parental consent or prescribe a specific verification mechanism.
(1)–(4) The following are exempt from this section: (1) an algorithm, software, or device that acts as a parental control or is used to filter content for age-appropriate or banned material; (2) an internal control used by the social media platformSocial media platform"Social media platform" means an electronic medium, including a browser-based or application-based interactive computer service, telephone network, or data network, that allows users to create, share, and view user-generated content. Social media platform does not include Internet search providers, Internet service providers, email, or short-message-service; or streaming video service or other Internet website where the content is not user-generated but where interactive functions enable incidental chat, comments, or reviews. Social media platform does not include a communication service, including audio and video communication technology, provided by a business to the business's employees and clients for use in the course of business activities and not for public distribution.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(e) that is intended to control the ability of a minor to access content or is used to filter content for age-appropriate or banned material; (3) user-generated contentUser-generated content"User-generated content" means any content created or shared by an account holder, including without limitation written posts, photographs, graphics, video recordings, or audio recordings.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(f) that is created by a federal, state, or local government; or (4) user-generated contentUser-generated content"User-generated content" means any content created or shared by an account holder, including without limitation written posts, photographs, graphics, video recordings, or audio recordings.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(f) that is created by a public or private school, college, or university and used for educational purposes, including software and applications or communication services or learning management systems that are used by and under the supervision or control of a public or private school, college, or university.
Subdivision 3 carves out four categories from the bill's scope: parental control tools and age-filtering algorithms or software; internal platform controls used to filter content for minors or screen for banned material; user-generated content created by federal, state, or local government entities; and user-generated content created by educational institutions for educational purposes, including learning management systems under institutional supervision. These exceptions operate as safe harbors for the prohibition in subdivision 2 — platforms using algorithms solely for these purposes are not in violation.
3 A social media platformSocial media platform"Social media platform" means an electronic medium, including a browser-based or application-based interactive computer service, telephone network, or data network, that allows users to create, share, and view user-generated content. Social media platform does not include Internet search providers, Internet service providers, email, or short-message-service; or streaming video service or other Internet website where the content is not user-generated but where interactive functions enable incidental chat, comments, or reviews. Social media platform does not include a communication service, including audio and video communication technology, provided by a business to the business's employees and clients for use in the course of business activities and not for public distribution.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(e) is liable to an individual account holderAccount holder"Account holder" means a person who accesses a social media account through a social media platform.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(b) who received user-generated contentUser-generated content"User-generated content" means any content created or shared by an account holder, including without limitation written posts, photographs, graphics, video recordings, or audio recordings.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(f) through a social media algorithmSocial media algorithm"Social media algorithm" means software used by a social media platform to (1) prioritize content for an individual account holder using recommendation features, and (2) direct the prioritized content to the account holder.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(d) while the individual account holderAccount holder"Account holder" means a person who accesses a social media account through a social media platform.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(b) was under the age of 18 and was using the individual account holderAccount holder"Account holder" means a person who accesses a social media account through a social media platform.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(b)'s own account, if the social media platformSocial media platform"Social media platform" means an electronic medium, including a browser-based or application-based interactive computer service, telephone network, or data network, that allows users to create, share, and view user-generated content. Social media platform does not include Internet search providers, Internet service providers, email, or short-message-service; or streaming video service or other Internet website where the content is not user-generated but where interactive functions enable incidental chat, comments, or reviews. Social media platform does not include a communication service, including audio and video communication technology, provided by a business to the business's employees and clients for use in the course of business activities and not for public distribution.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(e) knew or had reason to know that the individual account holderAccount holder"Account holder" means a person who accesses a social media account through a social media platform.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(b) was under the age of 18 and located in Minnesota. A social media platformSocial media platform"Social media platform" means an electronic medium, including a browser-based or application-based interactive computer service, telephone network, or data network, that allows users to create, share, and view user-generated content. Social media platform does not include Internet search providers, Internet service providers, email, or short-message-service; or streaming video service or other Internet website where the content is not user-generated but where interactive functions enable incidental chat, comments, or reviews. Social media platform does not include a communication service, including audio and video communication technology, provided by a business to the business's employees and clients for use in the course of business activities and not for public distribution.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(e) subject to this paragraph is liable to the account holderAccount holder"Account holder" means a person who accesses a social media account through a social media platform.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(b) for: (1) any general or special damages; (2) a statutory penalty of $1,000 for each violation of this section, provided that no individual account holderAccount holder"Account holder" means a person who accesses a social media account through a social media platform.Minn. Stat. § 325M.35, subd. 1(b) may recover more than $100,000 in statutory penalties under this subdivision in any calendar year; and (3) any other penalties available under law.
Subdivision 4 establishes the bill's exclusive enforcement mechanism: a private right of action by individual minor account holders. Liability attaches when a platform delivers algorithmically targeted user-generated content to a minor using that minor's own account, provided the platform knew or had reason to know the user was under 18 and located in Minnesota. Recoverable damages include general or special damages, a statutory penalty of $1,000 per violation capped at $100,000 per individual account holder per calendar year, and any other penalties available under law. The knowledge requirement — knew or had reason to know — is notable because the bill does not mandate a specific age-verification mechanism in subdivision 2(a), raising questions about what constructive knowledge standard platforms must satisfy.
This section may be cited as the "Stop Online Targeting Against Kids Act" or "SOTA Kids Act."
Subdivision 5 provides the bill's short title: the Stop Online Targeting Against Kids Act (SOTA Kids Act). This provision creates no compliance obligation.