Last year, New York joined a national wave of legislation aimed at using the Internet, especially social media to protect minors. Gov. Kathy Hochul In June 2024, the Children’s Act and the New York Children’s Data Protection Act ended the addictive feed exploitation (safety). Today, state Attorney General Letitia James detail What will be needed in practice for the Child Safety Act. Public comments begin on December 1 and the rules must be completed within one year since that date.
In particular, the rule will require online platforms to confirm the age of users before showing them the algorithm-curated feed or sending notifications at night. The Attorney General’s method allows a site to choose its age verification method as long as the method is “proven to be effective and protects the user’s data.” New York will also need an age confirmation method that does not rely on government-issued IDs.
The Child Safety Act also has a component of parental consent. Minors must ask social media networks to seek permission from their parents to access the algorithmic feed or receive nighttime notifications. If parental consent is not granted, the platform may not prevent minors from accessing their services or content. Both minors and their parents can withdraw their consent at any time.
“The proposed rules released by my office today will help us resolve the youth mental health crisis and make social media safer,” James said in the announcement. “This is a question that affects all of us and I encourage parents, educators, young people, industry groups and others to review the proposed rules and submit comments during public comments.”
