ST PAUL, Minn. — A report published Thursday by the Minnesota Attorney General's Office expressed alarm about social media's impact on Minnesota children and urged technology companies to do more to protect kids.
The state legislature asked Attorney General Keith Ellison and his staff last session to write a report about social media and artificial intelligence. For outside expertise, Ellison's office hired University of Southern California psychologist and former Meta Employee Dr. Ravi Iyer.
"The recommendations in the report are meant to accentuate the positives, and mitigate the negative," Iyer said. "There are some people who have wonderful experiences on these platforms. There are some people who are having terrible experiences on these platforms."
In the report, the Attorney General's Office faulted tech companies for failing to protect children from cyberbullying, harassment and graphic content. The report cited an internal Meta survey, in which 28 percent of Instagram users reported seeing bullying or harassment on the platform. About 8 percent of users reported being a target.
The report also outlined several policy and legislative suggestions, less than two weeks before lawmakers are due back at the state capitol in Saint Paul for the 2024 legislative session. In the report, the Attorney General's Office made clear that it is not calling for a ban on social media statewide, but it did suggest legislation that would give local school districts more power to restrict content.
Most notably, the Attorney General's Office is pushing for bans on algorithms known as "dark patterns," a term used to describe practices that encourage more scrolling and have more aggressive notification systems.
"While the Minnesota Attorney General's Office has the authority to address dark patterns already under existing authority to protect consumers from deceptive and unfair practices, whether the below design choices would qualify is likely to be subject to litigation," the report states. "Providing clarity on what is or is not permissible within legislation would enable more certainty for technology businesses and regulators, as well as streamline the Office's enforcement efforts."
Sue Abderholden, who heads the Minnesota chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, called the Attorney General's report "very thorough."
"I think what was most concerning was really seeing the impact of social media on our kids' mental health," Abderholden said. "We've had kids saying that it's helpful in that they connect with friends, but they're also saying 'I've been bullied,' or 'I've had strangers reach out to me, I'm not getting a good night's sleep, not doing my homework, feeling isolated.'"
The report comes on the heels of a highly publicized U.S. Senate hearing this week, in which lawmakers grilled Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg about his company's social media practices. Zuckerberg publicly apologized to families who've suffered abuse on his platforms and said he's invested billions in more safeguards.
Ravi Iyer said he firmly believes his former Meta boss "cares about those things."
But he also said the companies must make changes.
"There is 100 percent more that they can do," Iyer said. "I just encourage them to take bolder steps."
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