A tech industry interest group, NetChoice, sued the US state of Arkansas on Friday over a new social media law, Act 901, arguing that it violates the First Amendment by restricting content on social media platforms.

The act allows parents of children who committed suicide to sue these platforms. Netchoice, which represents many major tech conglomerates including Google, Amazon, and Reddit, filed the lawsuit in the US District Court for the Western District of Arkansas.

According to the group, Act 901 is an attempt to censor online speech, directly violating the First Amendment of the US Constitution and contravening the US Supreme Court ruling in Moody v. NetChoice LLC, which affirmed that social media companies have First Amendment editorial discretion.

In their complaint, the plaintiffs argue that Act 901 violates the First Amendment by imposing vague and broad restrictions on protected online speech. NetChoice argues the act’s punitive measures encourage companies to self-censor as a way of avoiding liability. Particularly, the group contends that the law penalizes companies that use algorithms they “should have known” could lead to behaviors such as suicide, self-injury, or eating disorders.

Furthermore, the complaint contends that Act 901’s prohibition on using “a design, algorithm, or feature that the social media platform knows” could lead to harmful behaviors—such as drug use, eating disorders or suicide—effectively targets platforms based on the content they disseminate, thereby violating the First Amendment’s protection of expressive content.

Passed by the General Assembly of Arkansas, Act 901 not only prohibits social media platforms from using algorithms or features that the platform knows can cause harm, but also grants parents of affected children the right to sue. The law allows civil action to be brought against platforms that “hosted, promoted, shared, or otherwise facilitated the immediate connection between the victim and the content.”