By Mallory Mattingly
New York Attorney General Letitia James proposed new rules to protect children under 18 from the dangers of social media.
Last year, New York passed the SAFE (Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation) Act because “New York minors are in the midst of a mental health crisis caused by harmful social media use,” the Act reads.
The legislation points to social media companies’ “personalized” algorithms that can “track tens or hundreds of thousands of data points about users to create a stream of media that can keep minors scrolling for dangerously long periods of time.”
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It explains that minors are not as capable as adults in exercising self-control when it comes to addictive feeds and the hours spent on social media can lead to “depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation and self-harm.”
To curb addiction, the Act and rules James proposed prohibit companies from personalizing a minor’s feed and pinging them with nighttime notifications between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. The new rules also offer insight into how it will verify age and implementing parental consent.
“Children and teenagers are struggling with high rates of anxiety and depression because of addictive features on social media platforms,” James shared in a press release. “I am proud to have worked alongside Governor Hochul, Senator Gounardes, and Assemblymember Rozic to pass the nation’s strongest legislation to protect children from the dangers of social media. The proposed rules released by my office today will help us tackle the youth mental health crisis and make social media safer for kids and families. This is an issue that affects all of us, and I encourage parents, educators, young people, industry groups, and others to review the proposed rules and submit a comment during the public comment period.”
“I was proud to sign the nation’s leading legislation targeting addictive social media feeds, the SAFE for Kids Act, that protects New York’s young people from social media’s damaging effects,” Governor Kathy Hochul added. “We know that kids are happier and healthier when they’re learning and growing, not clicking and scrolling. I thank Attorney General James and her team for their work on drafting the regulations for this critically important legislation.”
New York parents are grateful for James’s efforts and concern on this matter.
“As a mother to my 16-year-old daughter, I have seen firsthand how quickly social media takes a toll on our kids’ mental health,” Bernice Tsai, New York City parent, explained. “Once my daughter started using social media at age 13, I was shocked to see how quickly it hurt her self-confidence, impacting her mood and anxiety. New York’s SAFE For Kids Act will protect teens just like my daughter, shielding them from addictive feeds that are designed to keep them endlessly scrolling and exposed to posts encouraging self-harm, eating disorders, and even suicide. I’m excited to see this move forward and thank Attorney General James and the bill sponsors for their work on this effort.”
Legislation like this serves as an important reminder of the dangers social media poses to young people and why rules, either from parents or others, are important.
Read Next: Are Social Media Restrictions for Kids Under 13 Ineffective?
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