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New York’s governor has signed two laws designed to regulate social media use among teens. This includes banning social media companies from using “addictive feeds” to users under the age of 18. On Thursday, governor Kathy Hochul signed the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) For Kids Act, which specifically bars social media companies from using recommendation algorithms to serve content to underage users, unless parental consent is received. The law might be the first time a US state has explicitly tried to regulate recommendation algorithms, which can push content into your social media feed based on your likes, how long you view preview content, or your demographics and internet browsing activities.
Although recommendation algorithms aim to show you content you’ll be interested in, Hochul and supporters of the SAFE For Kids Act allege that these same technologies have caused “a dramatic negative effect” on teens, citing phone addiction and declining mental health levels. “Today, we save our children,” Hochul said in an event on Thursday. According to her, the “addictive forces” of social media have been turning “happy-go-lucky” kids into depressed teenagers — some of whom have contemplated suicide.In response, the SAFE For Kids Act will require social media companies operating in New York to ditch the recommendation algorithms for “non-addictive feeds,” such as displaying content to teen users chronologically. “New York is sending a clear message to Big Tech: your profits are not more important than our kids’ privacy and wellbeing,” added State Senator Andrew Gounardes, a sponsor of the law. In addition, the law prohibits social media platforms from “sending notifications regarding addictive feeds to minors from 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. without parental consent,” Hochul’s office said. To enforce the SAFE For Kids Act, the state’s attorney general has been empowered to seek civil penalties up to $5,000 per violation and to receive complaints from the public about any alleged infractions. The law will take effect 180 days after the state’s attorney general formalizes the rules. On the same day, Hochul also signed the New York Child Data Protection Act, which bars both social media companies and online websites from “collecting, using, sharing or selling personal data of anyone under the age of 18.” The data can only be collected unless parental consent is received or the information is necessary to operating the website.
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Although the two laws threaten to upend how social media companies treat teen users, it’s possible the tech industry will challenge the regulations in court. The American Civil Liberties Union argues that while the SAFE For Kids Acts is “well-intended,” the law nevertheless violates free speech rights protected under the First Amendment. “Limiting content delivery—even without targeting a particular subject—in this manner, to only government-approved quantities and sequences, is still unconstitutional,” the group wrote earlier this month. The tech lobbying group Chamber of Progress agreed, saying in a statement: “The bill dictates what speech platforms can and cannot show users, so it’s going to face a constitutional minefield.”
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window.facebookLoaded=window.facebookLoaded || false;if(!window.facebookLoaded){window.facebookLoaded=true;var s = document.createElement(‘script’);s.setAttribute(‘async’, ‘true’);s.setAttribute(‘src’, ‘https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v9.0’);document.head.appendChild(s);}\n\nAlthough recommendation algorithms aim to show you content you’ll be interested in, Hochul and supporters of the SAFE For Kids Act allege that these same technologies have caused “a dramatic negative effect” on teens, citing phone addiction and declining mental health levels. “Today, we save our children,” Hochul said in an event on Thursday. According to her, the “addictive forces” of social media have been turning “happy-go-lucky” kids into depressed teenagers — some of whom have contemplated suicide.In response, the SAFE For Kids Act will require social media companies operating in New York to ditch the recommendation algorithms for “non-addictive feeds,” such as displaying content to teen users chronologically. \”New York is sending a clear message to Big Tech: your profits are not more important than our kids’ privacy and wellbeing,\” added State Senator Andrew Gounardes, a sponsor of the law. In addition, the law prohibits social media platforms from \”sending notifications regarding addictive feeds to minors from 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. without parental consent,” Hochul’s office said. To enforce the SAFE For Kids Act, the state’s attorney general has been empowered to seek civil penalties up to $5,000 per violation and to receive complaints from the public about any alleged infractions. The law will take effect 180 days after the state’s attorney general formalizes the rules. On the same day, Hochul also signed the New York Child Data Protection Act, which bars both social media companies and online websites from “collecting, using, sharing or selling personal data of anyone under the age of 18.\” The data can only be collected unless parental consent is received or the information is necessary to operating the website. \n \n Recommended by Our Editors\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Los Angeles School Board Bans Smartphones, Social Media in Schools\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n US Surgeon General Calls for Health Warning Labels on Social Media Apps\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n UK Regulator Pushes Social Media Apps to ‘Tame Toxic Algorithms’\n \n \n \n \n\nAlthough the two laws threaten to upend how social media companies treat teen users, it’s possible the tech industry will challenge the regulations in court. The American Civil Liberties Union argues that while the SAFE For Kids Acts is “well-intended,” the law nevertheless violates free speech rights protected under the First Amendment. “Limiting content delivery—even without targeting a particular subject—in this manner, to only government-approved quantities and sequences, is still unconstitutional,” the group wrote earlier this month. The tech lobbying group Chamber of Progress agreed, saying in a statement: \”The bill dictates what speech platforms can and cannot show users, so it’s going to face a constitutional minefield.\””,”headline”:”New York Outlaws ‘Addictive’ Social Media Feeds For Teen Users”,”articleSection”:”Social Media”,”datePublished”:”2024-06-20T20:34:38+00:00″,”publisher”:{“@type”:”Organization”,”name”:”PCMag”,”logo”:{“@type”:”ImageObject”,”url”:”https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/images\/pcmag-social-share.png”,”width”:1200,”height”:1200},”alternateName”:”PCMag”,”sameAs”:[“https:\/\/twitter.com\/PCMag”,”https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PCMag”,”https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/pcmag”,”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@PCMag”,”https:\/\/www.flipboard.com\/@PCMag”,”https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pcmag\/”],”description”:”PCMag is your complete guide to PC computers, peripherals and upgrades. We test and review computer- and Internet-related products and services, report technology news and trends, and provide shopping advice and price comparisons.”},”author”:[{“@type”:”Person”,”name”:”Michael Kan”,”url”:”https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/authors\/michael-kan”,”jobTitle”:”Senior Reporter”,”image”:{“@type”:”ImageObject”,”url”:”https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/authors\/06W4G6A5rmg4LxEffqKnnc6..v1560221550.png”,”height”:85,”width”:85}}],”image”:[{“@type”:”ImageObject”,”url”:”https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/articles\/02wcBHNOiyyt780DfjWNmmZ-1..v1718912540.jpg”,”height”:1505,”width”:2676}],”description”:”The law is designed to force social media companies to display a chronological feed to users under the age of 18, rather than employing recommendation algorithms.”,”wordCount”:525,”mainEntityOfPage”:”https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/news\/new-york-outlaws-addictive-social-media-feeds-for-teen-users”}
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