Written by Jonathan Allen and Steve Gorman
NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York state lawmakers on Friday passed legislation banning social media platforms from revealing “addictive” algorithmic content to users under 18 without parental consent, the latest of several states moving to limit risks to children online.
A companion bill to restrict online sites from collecting and selling underage users' personal data also received final legislative approval in the New York Assembly on Friday, a day after the state Senate approved both measures.
Governor Kathy Hochul is expected to sign both bills.
She praised the two measures as “a historic step forward in our efforts to address the youth mental health crisis and create a safer digital environment for young people.”
Social media companies like Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:), whose platforms include Facebook and Instagram, could see their revenues take a hit.
Supporters of the legislation pointed to a recent Harvard University study that found the six largest social media platforms generated $11 billion from advertising to minors in 2022.
The bills' sponsors also cite studies linking higher rates of depression, anxiety, sleep disorders and other mental health problems to what they define as excessive social media use by teens.
Industry association NetChoice condemned the legislation, calling it in a statement “an assault on free expression and the open internet” by “forcing websites to censor all content unless visitors provide identification to verify their age.”
The organization said that it had successfully challenged similar measures taken by three other states in court as unconstitutional.
A spokesman for the governor said the law would not censor website content, and said it required the use of one or more age verification methods that preserve the user's anonymity.
Meta, whose president and CEO Mark Zuckerberg co-founded Facebook, offered some support for the bill.
“While we do not agree with every aspect of these bills, we welcome New York becoming the first state to pass legislation recognizing app stores’ liability,” the company said in a statement.
Under the bill, called the SAFE (Stop Addictive Feed Exploitation) for Children Act, social media users under the age of 18 must obtain parental consent to view “addictive” feeds. This is generally defined as content that comes from accounts they do not follow or subscribe to but is delivered by algorithms designed to keep them on the platform for as long as possible.
Instead, minors on social media may receive a timeline feed of content from accounts they already follow or from generally popular content, the way sponsors say social media feeds worked before the advent of “addictive” algorithms.
Young users can still search for specific topics of interest, connect with friends and join online groups, while non-addictive algorithms used in search functions or filtering out unwanted or obscene content will still be permitted without parental consent.
According to a summary of the bill submitted by the New York Attorney General, the legislation would apply to platforms whose feeds largely consist of user-generated content and material recommended to users based on data they collect from them.
The summary classified Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Alphabet (NASDAQ:) YouTube among the platforms likely to be subject to this measure.
The accompanying bill, called New York's Child Data Protection Act, would prohibit all online sites from collecting, using, sharing, or selling the personal data of anyone under the age of 18 unless they obtain “informed consent,” or unless the collection of such data And sharing it is absolutely necessary. For the purpose of the site.
For users under 13 years of age, informed consent must come from a parent.
Violators could be subject to civil damages or penalties of up to $5,000 per violation.
In March 2023, Utah became the first US state to adopt laws regulating children's access to social media, followed by other states, including Arkansas, Louisiana, Ohio, Texas and Florida.