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On Friday New York passed two bills aimed at making children safer online. The SAFE (Stop Addictive Feeds Exploration) for Kids Act restricts access to addictive algorithmic feeds, and the Child Data Protection Act is aimed at keeping personal data safe.The passage of both bills could potentially change how children in New York use social media, it will also force several social media companies to offer different versions of their apps for children in the state.Social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, for instance, will no longer be able to serve content to users under the age of 18 based on their recommendation algorithms, instead, they will have to provide a reverse-chronological feed for younger users.If companies violate the bills they could be met with some pretty hefty fines. According to the bill, a company found in violation would be given 30 days to correct the issue before being hit with a fine of up to $5,000 per under the age of 18.A previous version of the bill included a provision that would ban social media platforms from sending notifications to children between the hours of midnight and 6 am; however, that provision was removed on Monday before the bill was voted on.For the bills to become law they will need to be signed by New York Governor Kath Hochul, a task that seems all but a certainty.
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“New York is leading the nation to protect our kids from addictive social media feeds and shield their personal data from predatory companies,” Governor Hochul said in a statement after the bills passed in the legislature. “Together, we’ve taken a historic step forward in our efforts to address the youth mental health crisis and create a safer digital environment for young people. I am grateful to Attorney General James, Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Heastie, and bill sponsors Senator Gounardes and Assemblymember Rozic for their vital partnership in advancing this transformative legislation.”A similar bill aimed at keeping children safer online passed the California state senate in May.
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