- NY seeks to require parental consent for children to use social media platforms curated by algorithms.
- New bills would also ban social media notifications overnight and allow parents to limit the time spent on social media per day for minors.
New York authorities are pushing to ban internet companies from mining personal data and using addictive features of social media in ways that harm the mental health and development of young people.
The ban is included in new legislation that aims to strictly restrict how children under 18 access and use the Internet, Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement announcing the bills.
Excessive use of social media has devastating effects on mental health, she added, fueling increased rates of depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation and self-harm among children.
Our children are in crisis and the adults in the room need to step up, Hochul said.
The risks are greatest for adolescent girls, who were experiencing record levels of violence, sadness and suicide risk, with nearly three in five feeling constantly sad or hopeless in 2021, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This represents an increase of almost 60% and the highest level recorded in the last decade for adolescent girls. And all teens reported some level of increase, including in experiences of violence and suicidal thoughts and behaviors, the CDC found.
How will New York put an end to addictive social media feeds?
The first bill, called the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation for Kids Act, would require social media companies to restrict major addictive features on their platforms, according to the governor’s office.
Currently, platforms supplement the content users view from accounts they follow by serving them content from accounts they do not follow or subscribe to.
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This content is curated using algorithms that aggregate and display content based on various factors. However, algorithmic feeds have been shown to be addictive because they prioritize content that keeps users on the platform longer, the governor’s office noted.
Among the invoice details:
- Provide users under 18 with a default timeline feed of users they already follow. Users can also search for specific topics of interest. Minors may choose to receive addictive streams with parental consent.
- Allow parents to block access to social media platforms for minors between midnight and 6 a.m. and limit the total number of hours per day a minor spends on the platforms.
- Prohibit social media platforms from sending notifications to minors from midnight to 6 a.m. without parental consent.
Some of the penalties include seeking monetary damages or civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation. The bill would also allow any parent/guardian of a covered minor to sue for damages up to $5,000 per user per incident, or actual damages, whichever is greater.
How will New York ban online data collection from young people?
The other bill, called the New York 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 it obtains informed consent or it 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 Attorney General’s Office to enforce the law and can enjoin, seek damages, or civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation.
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Last year, California became the first state to approve legislation protecting children’s privacy online. Nationally, Congress is debating various bills aimed at regulating technology companies to limit their negative impact on young people’s mental health.
In addition to internet problems, long waits to access inpatient pediatric mental health programs have contributed to New York’s youth mental health crisis. An ongoing state effort to add hundreds of mental health hospital beds aims to reduce those expectations, but some advocates and providers say more needs to be done.
The USA TODAY Network contributed to this report
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