New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed two bills into law Thursday aimed at protecting children and teens from the harms of social media, making her the latest state to take action as federal proposals still await votes.
One of the bills, and Stopping the Exploitation of Addictive (Safe) Feeds for Children Actwould require parental consent for social media companies to use “addictive feeds” powered by recommendation algorithms for children and teens under 18. New York Child Data Protection Act, would limit the collection of data on minors without consent and restrict the sale of such information but does not require age verification. This law will enter into force within a year.
States across the country have taken the lead in enacting legislation to protect children online — one area where Republicans and Democrats appear to agree. While approaches vary somewhat from party to party, policymakers on both sides have indicated urgent interest in similar systems to protect children online. For example, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill into law in March Require parental consent for children under 16 to open social media accounts. In May, Maryland Governor Wes Moore (D) signed. A wide-ranging privacy bill becomes law, in addition to the Maryland Children’s Act Prohibit the use of features intended to keep minors on social media for extended periodssuch as autoplay or unwanted notifications.
While federal legislators provided Popular proposals such as the Children’s Online Safety Act (KOSA), have yet to gain the vote of voters and still face some opposition from groups who fear they will stifle resources for underrepresented groups like the LGBTQ+ community. States have filled the void, creating a patchwork of regulation across the country that industry leaders often say makes it difficult for smaller players to keep up.
“Is anyone going to hold their breath waiting for a federal solution?” Hochul asked at a celebratory press conference before the signing. “Me too.”
Its purpose is to “protect children’s mental health from addictive substances used by social media platforms, and from disrupted sleep due to nighttime social media use,” New York’s sponsors of the SAFE for Kids Act wrote. In addition to the algorithm restrictions, it will prevent platforms from sending notifications to minors between midnight and 6 a.m. without their parents’ consent. The bill requires the Attorney General’s Office to develop appropriate age verification methods, and says those methods cannot rely solely on biometrics or government identification. The law would go into effect 180 days after the Attorney General rules, and the state could then fine businesses $5,000 for each violation.
New York Attorney General Letitia James noted Opposing technology industry lobbyists Which politicians had to overcome to pass bills. “They threw money, and we had bodies,” James said. “The bodies and bodies of parents from all over New York State, who understand the dangers of social media.”
Even as bills aimed at making children safer online have proliferated, they have also faced their share of legal challenges. A California court blocked that state’s age-appropriate design law last year, which it sought to address Collect data on children and make platforms more accountable for how their services may harm children. While the court said the law had important goals, it ruled that the challenge was likely to prevail on the merits because the law could have a chilling effect on legal discourse. “Data and privacy protections intended to protect children from harmful content, if applied to adults, would also protect adults from the same content,” the judge wrote.
This bill is also likely to face opposition. NetChoice, the industry association that filed the lawsuit in California, has called the SAFE for Kids Act unconstitutional. The law “will increase children’s exposure to harmful content by requiring websites to order feeds in chronological order, prioritizing recent posts on sensitive topics,” NetChoice Vice President and General Counsel Karl Szabo said in a statement.
Adam Kovacevich, CEO of the center-left tech industry group Chamber for Progress, warned that the SAFE for Children Act “would face a constitutional minefield” as it deals with what speech platforms can show users. “It is a well-intentioned effort, but it is targeting the wrong target,” he said in a statement. “Algorithmic regulation makes teen nutrition healthier, and algorithmic blocking will make social media worse for teens.”
But Hochul told CBS News in an interview about the SAFE for Children Act: “We checked to make sure it was constitutional.”