New York Attorney General Letitia James has released proposed rules to implement the SAFE for Kids Act, landmark legislation aimed at protecting children’s mental health by restricting addictive features on social media platforms.
The rules, issued on Friday, outline how companies must limit algorithmically personalized feeds and nighttime notifications for users under 18 unless parental consent is provided. The SAFE for Kids Act, championed by James, sponsored by Senator Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Nily Rozic, and signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul, is designed to reduce the mental health risks linked to excessive social media use among minors, including depression, anxiety, and sleep or eating disorders.
“Children and teenagers are struggling with high rates of anxiety and depression because of addictive features on social media platforms,” James said. “The proposed rules released by my office today will help us tackle the youth mental health crisis and make social media safer for kids and families.”
The proposed regulations specify how companies must:
- Determine a user’s age using effective, privacy-protective methods such as email verification, video or image uploads, or other alternatives.
- Seek parental consent before allowing minors to access algorithmically personalized feeds or nighttime notifications.
- Ensure minors can still access all platform content even without parental consent.
- Allow parents and minors to withdraw consent at any time.
Algorithmically personalized feeds are designed to keep users engaged by recommending content based on prior activity. Research shows that children as young as 10 to 14 can develop addictive usage patterns that negatively impact mental health.
The proposed rules apply to platforms where at least 20 percent of user time is spent on addictive feeds. A 60-day public comment period is now open for parents, educators, industry groups, and others to provide feedback.
Governor Hochul, Senator Gounardes, and Assemblymember Rozic all praised the proposed regulations as a critical step in safeguarding New York’s children from harmful social media practices.
The SAFE for Kids Act will go into effect after the final rules are adopted, ensuring platforms must comply with these standards to protect minors across the state.
The full proposed rules can be found here.
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