AG James, Lawmakers, and Concerned Parents Push for Groundbreaking Legislation to Protect Teens on Social Medi

NEW YORK, NY (01/26/2024) (readMedia)-- On Friday, Attorney General Letitia James, Senator Andrew Gounardes, Assemblymember Nily Rozic, and Common Sense Media joined concerned parents of teens to advocate for state legislation that will keep teens safe online and demand accountability from Big Tech companies, notorious for prioritizing profits over the well-being of youth. In just the past month, New York has quickly positioned itself as a leader equipt to take on Big Tech. Shortly after Governor Kathy Hochul prioritized two bills in her Executive Budget proposal to regulate social media giants, NYC Mayor Eric Adams named social media a "public health hazard" for teens and children. This comes at a critical juncture when companies like Meta are profiting immensely from kids, with a staggering $11 billion in ad revenue from underage users in 2022, while publicly misleading New Yorkers on their intentions to improve their platforms for teens.

New York lawmakers and concerned parents alike are advocating to include the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation for Kids Act (SAFE) and the New York Child Data Protection Act as part of the final New York State Budget. Both sponsored by Senator Gounardes and Assemblymember Rozic, and backed by Attorney General James, these bills would create critical protections for children and young adults online by restricting the collection of their personal data and prohibiting the use of addictive algorithms.

Recording of the press conference can be found here.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said, "Young people across our state are suffering from record levels of mental health challenges, and social media companies have been fueling this crisis. The legislation my office worked to advance with Governor Hochul, Senator Gounardes, and Assemblymember Rozic will help rein in the most addictive and dangerous features of social media and protect children's privacy. It is unacceptable that big tech companies can profit off the harm they are doing to young people, and we owe it to our kids to tackle the damaging effects of social media."

"From city to state, New York is collectively taking charge to finally hold Big Tech accountable. Self-regulation is a fallacy: the only way we're going to rein in the social media giants getting rich off our kids is if we force them to. The tech industry may spend millions to stop us, but with the support of Governor Hochul, Attorney General James, and lawmakers and concerned parents from across the state, we will pass the SAFE for Kids Act and the New York Child Data Protection Act in law this year and create a safer environment for our kids online," said New York State Senator Andrew Gounardes.

"Everyone agrees we must do all that we can to protect our kids from the harmful influence of addictive algorithms and unchecked data collection, including passing the SAFE for Kids Act and the NY Child Data Protection Act in this year's state budget," said Assemblywoman Nily Rozic. "By doing so, we unequivocally signal that New York is taking the lead in regulating Big Tech and putting New Yorkers' safety and privacy at the forefront. I thank Attorney General James, Senator Gounardes, and Governor Hochul for their collaborative efforts in order to protect young people in the digital age."

"As a mother to my 15 year old daughter, I have witnessed the negative effects that social media can have on our kids' mental health, and how quickly it can take effect. Once my daughter began using social media at age 13, I was shocked to see how quickly it affected her sense of self and confidence, impacting her mood and anxiety. I know there are many New York parents like me that do the best they can to keep their children safe online. But we can't fight these massive companies, with their profit incentives and thousands of employees, without strong safety protections in place. I support these bills because they would limit children's access to algorithm-driven feeds that are designed to keep them endlessly scrolling, and I urge the New York State legislature to pass both of these bills this session. We don't have time to wait," said Bernice Tsai.

Danny Weiss, Chief Advocacy Office of Common Sense said, "Common Sense Media strongly supports these two bills and appreciates the critical leadership of Sen. Gounardes, Assemblywoman Rozic, Attorney General James, and Governor Hochul. As the leading organization to promote a healthier and safer internet for children, teens and families, Common Sense urges the legislature to pass these bills quickly to benefit New York families and their kids. Children's data privacy laws are out of date, and there are no guardrails at all on social media companies despite the research and evidence on the harms they can cause. So, these two bills are urgently needed in New York. But make no mistake. Big Tech companies, under the guise of trade associations like TechNYC, will fight these bills tooth and nail. And Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, will keep spending millions in ads to convince parents that they have the controls they need to protect kids online. That's simply not true. Here's our message to the parents of New York - stay engaged with your children, talk with them about what they are seeing, and understand how they use technology, but the critical thing to do now to better protect your children online is to contact your assembly member and state senator and demand their support for the SAFE Act and the New York Child Data Protection Act."

Studies proving the causal connection between prolonged social media use and declining youth mental health are endless, and New York parents are noticing the immediate hit to their teens' mental health. According to recent research, half of teens say social media makes them feel worse about their body image, social media use leads to disrupted sleep cycles, and youth who spend more than three hours a day on social media (the average for overall Internet use is almost nine hours a day, not including time for homework) double their risk for depression and anxiety. Social media usage has such a negative effect on youth mental health, in fact, that the US Surgeon General issued an advisory in May declaring it unsafe for kids. This is the leading national spokesperson on matters of public health, begging policy intervention.

The Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation for Kids Act (SAFE) and the New York Child Data Protection Act, both very feasible regulations, aim to create critical protections for children and young adults online by restricting the collection of their personal data and changing how young users are served content online to reduce the harms of addictive features that keep children on social media longer.

BACKGROUND:

Bill #1: Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act

This SAFE for Kids Act will require social media companies to restrict the addictive features on their platforms that most harm young users. Currently, platforms supplement the content that users view from the accounts they follow by serving them additional content from accounts they do not follow or subscribe to. This content is curated using algorithms that gather and display content based on a variety of factors. However, algorithmic feeds have been shown to be addictive because they prioritize content that keeps users on the platform longer. Addictive feeds are correlated with an increase in the amount of time that teens and young adults spend on social media and significant negative mental health outcomes for minors.

To address this problem, the legislation will:

• Ban social media platforms from offering addictive feeds to any persons under 18 without parental consent. Instead, users will receive a chronological feed of content from only the users that they already follow or feeds of generally popular content – the same way that social media feeds functioned before the advent of addictive feeds. Users may also search for specific topics of interest.
• Prohibit social media platforms from sending notifications to minors from 12AM and 6AM without verifiable parental consent.
• Allow users and parents to opt out of minors accessing social media platforms between the hours of 12AM and 6AM.
• Authorize the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) to bring an action to enjoin or seek damages or civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation. Allow any parent/guardian of a covered minor to sue for damages of up to $500 per user per incident, or actual damages, whichever is greater.
• This legislation will only impact social media platforms with feeds comprised of user-generated content along with other material that the platform recommends to users based on data it collects from them. For example, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube would all be subject to this legislation.

Bill #2: The New York Child Data Protection Act

With few privacy protections in place for minors online, children are vulnerable to having their location and other personal data tracked and shared with third parties. To protect children's privacy, the New York Child Data Protection Act will prohibit all online sites from collecting, using, sharing, or selling personal data of anyone under the age of 18 for the purposes of advertising, unless they receive informed consent or unless doing so is strictly necessary for the purpose of the website. For users under 13, this informed consent must come from a parent. The bill authorizes the Office of the Attorney General to enforce the law and may enjoin, seek damages, or civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation.