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State Officials Announce Legislation to Restrict Addictive
Social Media Feeds and Protect Kids Online Signed Into
Law
Published: June 21, 2024 at
11:00 a.m.
By: Press Release from NYS Attorney General (June 20,
2024)
Attorney General James, Governor Hochul, and Bill
Sponsors Announce Nation-Leading Legislation to Restrict Addictive Social
Media Feeds and Protect Kids Online Signed into Law
NEW YORK – New York
Attorney General Letitia James, Governor Kathy Hochul, and bill sponsors
Senator Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Nily Rozic today announced that nation-leading
legislation to combat addictive social media feeds and protect kids online
has been signed into law. The bill signing ceremony included union leaders,
advocates, parents, and children who all worked to help these bills advance
during the legislative session. The first bill signed into law, Stop
Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) For Kids Act will require social media
companies to restrict addictive feeds on their platforms for users under
18. The second bill signed into law, the New York Child Data Protection
Act, will prohibit online sites from collecting, using, sharing or selling
personal data of anyone under the age of 18, unless they receive informed
consent or unless doing so is strictly necessary for the purpose of the
website. With this newly signed legislation, New York has established the
nation’s most stringent protections to safeguard kids on social media.
“Addictive feeds
are getting our kids hooked on social media and hurting their mental
health, and families are counting on us to help address this crisis,”
said Attorney General James. “The legislation signed by
Governor Hochul today will make New York the national leader in addressing
the youth mental health crisis and an example for other states to follow. I
applaud the sponsors, Senator Gounardes and
Assemblymember Rozic, for working with my office to introduce and advance
this legislation, and I thank the legislative leaders for their support of
these historic bills. As we move forward with the rulemaking process, my
office will work tirelessly to defend these new laws to protect New York
children.”
“Young people
across the nation are facing a mental health crisis fueled by addictive
social media feeds – and New York is leading the way with a new model for
addressing the crisis and protecting our kids,” Governor Hochul
said. “By reining in addictive feeds and shielding kids’ personal
data, we’ll provide a safer digital environment, give parents more peace of
mind, and create a brighter future for young people across New York. I’m
grateful to Attorney General James, Senator Gounardes
and Assemblymember Rozic for their partnership on advancing this historic
legislation.”
“New York is
sending a clear message to Big Tech: your profits are not more important
than our kids’ privacy and wellbeing. As a father of two young kids,
this victory is personal, and I am particularly grateful to the young
people, parents, educators, and organizations from across the state who
stood up to some of the most powerful companies in the world and demanded a
safer digital world,” said bill sponsor Senator Andrew Gounardes. “Today would not have been possible
without the partnership of Governor Hochul and Attorney General James and
their steadfast commitment to protecting children from the harms of social
media, and I thank the Governor for signing these two critical bills into
law. This milestone isn’t just a win for New York’s children — our new laws
pave the way for the rest of the country to follow suit. We beat Big Tech,
and you can too.”
“Over two decades
after child online privacy laws were last updated, the signing of these
bills into laws signals that New York is taking the lead in putting New
Yorkers’ safety and privacy at the forefront,” said bill sponsor Assemblymember
Nily Rozic. “We are taking decisive action to
protect our kids from the harmful influence of addictive algorithms and
unchecked data collection by enacting the SAFE for Kids Act and the NY
Child Data Protection Act. I thank Governor Hochul, Attorney General James,
and Senator Gounardes for their unwavering
collaborative efforts in order to protect young
people in the digital age.”
The legislation
signed today addresses critical challenges facing young people. According
to an advisory issued by the U.S. Surgeon General,
recent research shows that adolescents who spend more than three hours per
day on social media face double the risk of experiencing poor mental health
outcomes, such as symptoms of depression and anxiety. Additionally, a
recent report from the Pew Research Center found that six
out of 10 teens say they feel they have little or no control over the
personal information that social media companies collect about them.
The SAFE for Kids Act
Addictive feeds,
or algorithmically driven feeds, facilitate unhealthy levels of social
media use. This legislation will require social media companies to restrict
addictive feeds on their platforms for users under 18. Unless parental
consent is granted, users under 18 will not receive addictive feeds.
Notably, the SAFE for Kids Act is the first bill of its kind to be signed
into law in any state across the nation.
Under this law,
kids may still use social media. For example, they can continue to search
for specific topics of interest or subscribe to creators but will not be
subject to algorithmically driven feeds that promote unhealthy levels of
engagement. The law will also prohibit social media platforms from sending
notifications regarding addictive feeds to minors from 12:00 a.m. to 6:00
a.m. without parental consent. The law will authorize the Office of the
Attorney General (OAG) to bring an action to enjoin violations of the new
law as well as seek civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation, among
other remedies. And finally, it calls for the establishment of acceptable
age verification and parent consent methods, to be determined by OAG as
part of a rulemaking process.
The New York Child Data Protection Act
This legislation
will prohibit online sites from collecting, using, sharing or selling
personal data of anyone under the age of 18, unless they receive informed
consent or unless doing so is strictly necessary for the purpose of the
website. It also authorizes OAG to enforce the law and enjoin and seek
damages or civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation.
“New York is
standing up for our kids by taking on the tech companies and requiring
heightened privacy for our children as well as greater protection from the
addictive and predatory features of social media platforms,” said Michael
Mulgrew, President of the United Federation of Teachers. “We applaud
Governor Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James, Senate Majority
Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Senator
Andrew Gounardes, and Assemblymember Nily Rozic for protecting our children.”
“Protecting
children online in the midst of a mental health crisis is common sense, and
we are proud that New York is leading the way,” said Melinda
Person, President of the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT). “The
legislation advanced by Attorney General James, Senator Gounardes
and Assemblymember Rozic, and signed by Governor Hochul, will take historic
action to address the most dangerous aspects of social media. NYSUT
educators across the state made their voices heard to support these bills,
and we will continue to do everything in our power to safeguard the mental
health of our students.”
“When the state's
most powerful leaders join forces to prioritize the well-being of kids and
families over Big Tech’s profits, amazing things can happen,” said James
P. Steyer, Founder and CEO of Common Sense Media,
the lead advocacy organization that helped pass the SAFE for Kids Act and
the NY Child Data Protection Act. “Governor Hochul, Attorney General
James, Senator Gounardes, and Assemblymember
Rozic deserve all New Yorkers' gratitude for fighting for these
groundbreaking bills and enacting them into law. Common Sense looks forward
to using this win for kids' online safety and privacy as a model for the
nation.”
The legislation
signed into law today is part of Attorney General James’ ongoing efforts to
protect New Yorkers online and address concerns with social media
companies. In March 2024, Attorney General James led a bipartisan coalition
of 41 attorneys general in urging Meta to address the rise of Facebook and Instagram account
takeovers by scammers and frauds. In October 2023, Attorney General James
and a bipartisan coalition of 32 attorneys general filed a federal lawsuit against Meta for harming
young people’s mental health and contributing to the youth mental health
crisis. In July 2023, she led a multistate coalition of attorneys general to
defend the federal government’s ability to communicate with social media
companies about dangerous online content. In April 2023, Attorney General James released a comprehensive guide to
help businesses adopt effective data security measures to better
protect New Yorkers’ personal information. Attorney General James
also joined a bipartisan coalition of 44 attorneys general urging
Facebook to abandon plans to launch a version of Instagram for children
under the age of 13. In October 2022, Attorney General James investigated and released a report on the role online
platforms played in the Buffalo mass shooting.
This legislation
was drafted with the support of Assistant Attorneys General Nathaniel Kosslyn and Jina John, and Senior Enforcement Counsel
Jordan Adler, all of the Bureau of Internet and
Technology, under the supervision of Bureau Chief Kim Berger. The Bureau of
Internet and Technology is a part of the Division for Economic Justice,
which is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General Chris D’Angelo and overseen
by First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.
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