MOORHEAD, Minn. (Valley News Live) – Starting July 1, 2026, Minnesotans who open popular social media apps could see a mental health warning before they reach their feeds — even as tech companies fight to stop the requirement in federal court.
An amendment to Minnesota’s consumer digital and data privacy law, Section 325M.335, “Mental Health Warning,” takes effect Wednesday.
Signed by Gov. Tim Walz in 2025, it makes Minnesota the first state in the country to require a state‑authored mental health warning label on social media platforms.
Under the law, social media companies must display a clearly visible pop‑up warning every time a user opens a covered platform.
The warning can’t be buried in terms and conditions or other fine print, and it must include the 9-8-8 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline along with other mental health support information.
It’s also written to cover all users — not just kids — and platforms won’t be allowed to let you turn it off. Once a user acknowledges the warning, it disappears, but only until the next time they open the app.
The warning requirement applies to platforms that allow users to create, share, and view user‑generated content for social interaction or networking, such as Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and X.
Shauna Erickson‑Abou Zahr, a Regional Program Manager and MS, LMFT with The Village Family Service Center in Moorhead, said social media now touches most, if not all, of the people she sees in therapy.
“I think social media is woven into nearly every single client’s life, unless it’s one of our early childhood cases, and even in those cases, they’re still impacted because of parental usage,” she explained.
Erickson‑Abou Zahr said she and her colleagues are seeing more patients whose symptoms are tied, at least in part, to what they encounter online.
“We monitor body image in all clients,” she said. “During the identity development part of our lives — our preteen, teen, and emerging adult years — when we’re gleaning our worth based on our relationships with other people, that’s where it can be really catastrophic.”
The regional program manager said it’s “exciting” to see policy makers trying to elevate mental health priority.
“I think it shows that we’re seeing this as a very serious threat to people’s health,” she said. “We click through a lot of things in our day‑to‑day lives, and we attest to things without always realizing the full ramifications.”
She continued, “I don’t know what a pop‑up does in terms of meaningful outcomes, but I do think it’s a change that will hopefully bring a pause to people — especially for parents to be considering, ‘What does this mean? Where do I need to revisit so that I’m sure what I hope for my kid’s experience in terms of safety online is, in fact, what’s as close to possible in terms of outcome.”
Enforcement authority under the new statute rests with the Minnesota Attorney General. The commissioner of health is responsible for creating and updating the warning text, in consultation with the commissioner of commerce.
But before the law takes effect, it faces a major test.
A tech industry group representing companies such as Meta, Google and TikTok has sued the state, arguing the law violates the First Amendment by compelling private companies to carry “the government’s preferred message” on their platforms.
The group has asked a federal judge to block the warning requirement before the July 1 deadline.
If the court does not rule in time, the warning will likely still go live while the legal fight continues.
This Minnesota law joins other recent efforts to regulate social media and its impact on young people. There already is the Stop Harms From Addictive Social Media law, which requires verified parental consent before social media companies can allow children 16 or younger to create accounts.
Copyright 2026 KVLY. All rights reserved.