New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) signed two bills into law on Thursday that aim to protect kids and teens from social media harms, making it the latest state to take action as federal proposals still await votes.
One of the bills, the “. And in May, “, like autoplay or spammy notifications.
While federal legislators have introduced ” last year, ” data collection on kids and make platforms more responsible for how their services might harm children. While the court said the law had important aims, it ruled the challenge was likely to prevail on the merits because the law could have a chilling effect on legal speech. “Data and privacy protections intended to shield children from harmful content, if applied to adults, will also shield adults from that same content,” the judge wrote.
This bill is also likely to face pushback. NetChoice, an industry association that brought the California suit, has already called the SAFE for Kids Act unconstitutional. NetChoice vice president and general counsel Carl Szabo said in a statement that the law would “increase children’s exposure to harmful content by requiring websites to order feeds chronologically, prioritizing recent posts about sensitive topics.”
Adam Kovacevich, CEO of center-left tech industry group Chamber of Progress, warned that the SAFE for Kids Act will “face a constitutional minefield” because it deals with what speech platforms can show users. “It’s a well-intentioned effort, but it’s aimed at the wrong target,” he said in a statement. “Algorithmic curation makes teenagers’ feeds healthier, and banning algorithms is going to make social media worse for teens.”
But Hochul told CBS News in an interview about the SAFE for Kids Act, “We’ve checked to make sure, we believe it’s constitutional.”