NY Gov. Kathy Hochul signs bill banning ‘addictive’ social media feeds for kids, the first in the nation

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed landmark legislation Thursday barring social media companies from bombarding children with “addictive” feeds — something she said was the first step in a new push to restrict schoolkids’ smartphone usage.

The first-in-the nation “SAFE for Kids Act” cracks down on apps — such as TikTok and Instagram — that use algorithms to keep children glued to their phones and then profit off that data.

“We will save lives with this, my friends,” Hochul told a crowd gathered at the United Federation of Teachers union headquarters in Manhattan for the bill signing.

“Our kids will not be commoditized,” she stressed. “We will not let them make money off our kids, our babies, anymore. That is not happening here, so here we are the first in the nation.” 

The governor then doubled down on previous statements that she’d be looking at banning smartphones in schools next.

“The next frontier is the phones,” Hochul told reporters after the announcement.

“This is something that individual school districts right now can adopt,” she noted. “There is no prohibition on them, but to those who need the courage to be able to say that the governor made me do it I’m happy to take that on, but we need some time to develop and get this done properly.”

It’s the latest in a campaign against technology Hochul and local politicians and advocates feel is harming New York’s children.

But the milestone law on social media feeds, passed by state lawmakers in Albany earlier this month, is almost certain to face a legal challenge from Big Tech companies. 

That bill, and another signed by Hochul on Thursday, will:

• Prevent social media platforms from feeding users under the age of 18 content using algorithms that are tailored to keep them scrolling.
• Give parents the ability to pause notifications on their kids’ social media accounts between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m.
• Bar social media companies from selling data generated by users under the age of 18.

The legislation charges state Attorney General Letitia James with crafting many of the details on how it will be enforced, including the critical component of how apps will go about verifying the ages of users.

James, who was also heavily involved in crafting the language to withstand a legal challenge, will ultimately be the one to defend it in court.

“As most of you know. Tish James loves litigation and Tish James is not afraid to stand up to any bully,” James said, referring to herself in the third-person, drawing a roaring round of applause.

Google and Meta had already spearheaded a costly effort to tank the Empire State legislation — with the lobbying battle estimated to surpass $1 million, public disclosures showed.

The legislation will go into effect six months after James finalizes the specific rules and regulations for the social media platforms.

Julie Samuels, president and CEO of Tech: NYC, a group that advocates for tech companies, claimed that the “unresolved issues” of how the laws will work could throw a wrench in the plan.

“Lawmakers clearly have good intentions with these bills, but some significant unresolved issues — including how age verification will work, which websites will be impacted, and whether algorithms used to filter out harmful content will be banned — could prevent them from being fulfilled,” Samuels said in a statement.

Other tech advocates blasted the legislation as “unconstitutional.”

“This new law is an unconstitutional restriction on free speech and information access. It requires websites to block access unless visitors go through intrusive age and identity verification, directly infringing on the rights of both websites and internet users,” Carl Szabo, NetChoice vice president, wrote.

A spokesperson for Meta – the parent company of Instagram and Facebook – only said the company supports federal legislation that would put the onus on app stores to give parents more control over the apps their kids download.

Speaking at an unrelated press conference Thursday, New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks backed the social media laws, saying the impact of the apps on kids has been “incredibly harmful.”

Asked about the schools phone ban floated by Hochul, he said the DOE was still evaluating the idea, but that it could be a possibility.

“I’ve not heard from many schools that they’re using these phones for highly rigorous academic purposes in classroom activities,” Banks noted.

“I’ve heard about safety issues around how kids are communicating with other kids through their phones to create confrontations after school.”

Hochul said she was opposed to kids keeping phones in class last month, but has since clarified that she would be OK with students having “dumb” devices like a flip phone so parents can reach them if necessary. 

— Additional reporting by Aneeta Bhole