New York Attorney General Letitia James on Tuesday released final rules on how social media companies must restrict addictive features on their platforms to comply with the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act and protect children’s mental health.
The rules released today establish criteria to determine which companies must comply with the law and outline standards to determine users’ age and obtain parental consent.
The SAFE for Kids Act requires social media companies to restrict algorithmically personalized feeds and nighttime notifications for users under the age of 18 unless they obtain parental consent. Algorithmic feeds and nighttime notifications are tied to depression, anxiety, eating and sleep disorders, and other mental health issues among children and teenagers, officials said.
“The SAFE for Kids Act leads the nation in keeping our children safe online and protecting youth from the devastating effects of unchecked social media,” James said in a statement. “These rules set standards for age verification and parental control to ensure tech companies are doing their part to keep kids safe on their platforms.
Social media companies must now determine a users' age by:
- For users above the age of 17, social media companies must determine that the user is an adult before allowing them to access algorithmic feeds and/or nighttime notifications. Companies may confirm a user’s age using any existing method, as long as the methods are shown to meet accuracy benchmarks and protect users’ data. Companies can use options such as:
- Requesting an uploaded image or video; or
- Verifying a user’s email address or phone number to cross-check other information that reflects a user’s age.
- Social media companies must offer at least one alternative method for age assurance besides providing a government-issued ID.
- Any information used to determine age or obtain parental consent must not be used for any other purpose and must be deleted or de-identified immediately
after its intended use. Social media companies must use only the minimum amount of data necessary to confirm a user’s age. - Minor users must have an option to update their age status on the platform when they turn 18.
- Social media companies must choose an age assurance method with a high accuracy rate, conduct annual testing, and retain the results of the testing for a minimum of five years.
Minors also must seek access to prohibited features and must consent to their parent being notified. Any parent who wants to grant consent must go through age assurance. The platform may not block a minor user from generally accessing the platform or its content through, for example, searches, simply because they or their parent has refused to consent.
The platform is not required to show parents the user’s search history or topics of interest to obtain parental consent, and parents and minors must also have the option to withdraw their consent at any time.
“When I came into office, our children were in the throes of a full-blown mental health crisis, and as New York’s first mom Governor, I felt a moral imperative to act,” said Governor Kathy Hochul. “Today, we’re sending a clear message: our kids’ mental health isn’t for sale. We promised action and the SAFE For Kids Act is delivering by ensuring that any platform that targets our children with addictive feeds will face legal consequences. Instead of clicking and scrolling, our kids will be learning and growing.”
