On Tuesday, New York lawmakers announced they were finalizing a bill that would allow parents to block their children’s social media posts curated by platforms’ algorithms, which critics argue captivate newborn users by keeping them glued to their screens.
Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James have been pushing for the rule since October, facing robust opposition from the tech industry. The amended version removes provisions that would have restricted the amount of time a child could spend on a website. With the legislative session ending this week, Albany lawmakers are making a final push to get the rule passed.
“The algorithmic feeds are designed to be dopamine for children,” Democratic House sponsor Nily Rozic said Tuesday. “We are trying to regulate that design feature.”
New York’s legislation follows moves by other states to curb social media operate by children. Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, signed a law banning social media accounts for children under 14 and requiring parental permission for 14- and 15-year-olds. Utah revised its policies in March, requiring social media companies to verify the age of their users but removing the requirement that parents consent to their child creating an account. A state law in Arkansas that would also have required parental consent was put on hold by a federal judge last year.
Supporters say New York’s Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) For Kids Act, which would ban algorithm-based content without “verifiable parental consent,” aims to protect newborn people’s mental health and development by shielding them from features that force them to scroll endlessly.
Instead of automated algorithms suggesting content deemed addictive based on what a user has clicked on in the past, newborn account holders would see a chronological feed of content from users they already follow.
Rozic said the New York bill does not seek to regulate the content available on social media, but only “the vehicle that supercharges the feed and makes it more addictive.”
Critics of the bill, including the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, warn that it could worsen the situation for children by, among other things, causing internet companies to collect more information about their users.
“Lawmakers are passing laws that are a fairy tale,” Albert Fox Cahn, executive director of the privacy group, said in a statement. “There is simply no technology that can verify the age of New Yorkers without violating their privacy.”
Technology industry association NetChoice, whose members include Meta and X, accused New York of “trying to replace parents with government.”
“Furthermore, this bill is unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by forcing websites to censor New Yorkers’ ability to read articles or comment online, by blocking standard access to websites without providing proof of ID and age, and by denying websites the editorial rights to display, organize, and promote content as they wish,” said Carl Szabo, vice president and general counsel at NetChoice, in an emailed statement.
The bill would also prohibit websites from sending notifications to minors between midnight and 6 a.m. without parental consent.
Companies face fines of up to $5,000 per violation.
If the bill passes the House and Senate, Hochul is expected to sign the bill and another bill regulating data collection after calling the legislation one of her top priorities.
“We stopped marketing tobacco to children. We raised the drinking age. And today we are fighting to protect children from the defining issue of our time,” Hochul wrote in an opinion piece in the New York Post last week.
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Thompson reported from Buffalo, New York. Associated Press writer Anthony Izaguirre contributed from Albany, New York.
