Amidst ongoing court battles and pending federal legislation, New York’s legislature passes a ban on social media companies using “addictive” recommendation algorithms to serve content to children. 

As previously covered on Conduit Street, the fight to protect children and privacy on social media has been ongoing for some time. The mental health implications for children using social media are well founded, and the U.S. Surgeon General considers platform use a public health risk. State and federal lawmakers continue to try tackling the problem, and New York has become the most recent state to take another stab at it.

The Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids act passed the New York legislature and defines an “addictive feed” as one that recommends, selects or prioritizes media based on information associated with a user or their device. Essentially, it would block serving content to a child who exhibits certain and persistent tendencies towards material considered to be harmful. And based on each child’s tendencies those outcomes are variable.

Additionally the bill requires the state’s attorney general to disseminate rules for enforcement. According to the bills provisions, a company found in violation would have 30 days to correct the issue or face remedies of up to $5,000 per user under the age of 18. Advocates for the legislation attempted to also ban platforms from sending notifications to children between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m.

The New York legislation, like many others so far, is likely to be challenged by NetChoice who has been leading the fight on behalf of the social media companies. They have been granted injunctive relief in a number of states as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to weigh in on a pair of cases attempting to restrict how information is published, shared, and further disseminated across the platforms.

Read more about the pending SCOTUS ruling from Bloomberg Law.

Read more about the New York law and current court battles.

Read previous Conduit Street coverage on social media provisions for children.