New York laws to protect children from addictive social media content

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News Websites
8 Jun 2024 16:49

The new legislation will limit children's exposure to computer algorithmic social media feeds while protecting their privacy.

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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks during a news conference in New York on October 11, 2023. (AP)

The state of New York on Friday took innovative legal steps to limit children's exposure to computer algorithmic social media feeds, approving two bills to safeguard children from addicting social media material and their privacy.

The Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (Safe) for Kids Act requires social media companies to restrict addictive feeds on their platforms for users under 18 without parental consent and prohibits companies from sending notifications about addictive feeds to minors between 12 and 6 a.m.

The second legislation, the New York Child Data Protection Act, forbids internet sites from collecting, using, distributing, or selling personal information of anybody under the age of 18, unless informed permission is obtained or it is essential for the website's purpose.

The statutes allow the state attorney general to levy civil fines of up to $5,000 per infraction.

Governor Kathy Hochul hailed the steps as "historic" in the effort to aid the youth mental health crisis and "create a safer digital environment for young people" adding that the state is leading the US i the protection of children from addictive social media feeds.

According to Letitia James, the New York state attorney general, "Children are enduring a mental health crisis, and social media is fueling the fire and profiting from the epidemic," adding that she hoped additional states would pass similar laws and put children's mental health before tech profits.

Melinda Person, president of the New York State Teachers' Union called the legislation a "tremendous first step" to ensuring that things that harmfully affect children are kept " in their proper places".

The Safe for Kids Act describes addictive feeds as those that are dependent on a user's "liked" or "followed" material, as well as other activities that the user may be unaware of, such as how long they spend looking at a certain piece of media.

The feeds in question "make predictions about interests, mood, and other factors related to what is most likely to keep users engaged for as long as possible, creating a feed tailor-made to keep each user on the platform for longer periods" , according to the regulation, which severely detriments children and teens, forcing them to spend more time on social media which has been linked to a higher incidence of juvenile depression.

The states of Connecticut, Vermont, Illinois, New Mexico, Maryland, and Minnesota are working to enact or update parental consent laws, requiring some sites to undertake child safety assessments or make design changes.

Last year, 33 states sued Meta, the parent corporation of Facebook and Instagram, saying that it abused children's privacy. A California legislation requiring social networking firms to modify their website designs is being challenged in federal court.

In Washington, The Kids Online Safety Act (Kosa), launched more than two years ago, received 60 votes in the Senate early this year. However, other human-rights organizations oppose the proposal, highlighting persistent disagreements among academics, legislators, and campaigners over how to keep young people safe online.

Aliya Bhatia, a policy analyst at the Center for Democracy and Technology, told the Guardian in March that a "one-size-fits-all approach" to children's safety will not keep children safe, explaining that there is no consensus regarding the "types of content and design features that cause harm. "

According to Prem M Trivedi, policy director at the Open Technology Institute, "rather than protecting children, this could impact access to protected speech, causing a chilling effect for all users and incentivizing companies to filter content on topics that disproportionately impact marginalized communities".

Shirley Cramer, CEO of RSPH, said, "As the evidence grows that there may be potential harms from heavy use of social media... it is important that we have checks and balances in place to make #socialmedia less of a wild west when it comes to young people's mental health." pic.twitter.com/JLyHn6KTMT
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) January 6, 2023

Big Tech makes $11 bln in ad revenue from minors: Harvard Study

In December, a study from Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health showed that social media companies collectively generated a staggering $11 billion in advertising revenue from minors in the United States last year. The findings underscore a pressing need for government regulation of social media, as companies fail to self-regulate adequately.

The study highlights the potential harms to youth mental health and advocates for increased transparency and regulatory measures to counter harmful advertising practices targeting children and adolescents.

According to the Harvard study, YouTube topped the list in ad revenue from users 12 and under ($959.1 million), followed by Instagram ($801.1 million) and Facebook ($137.2 million). Instagram led in ad revenue from users aged 13-17 ($4 billion), followed by TikTok ($2 billion) and YouTube ($1.2 billion). The study also estimates that Snapchat derived the largest share of its overall 2022 ad revenue from users under 18 (41%), followed by TikTok (35%), YouTube (27%), and Instagram (16%).

The researchers argue that the results underscore a critical necessity for government intervention in social media regulation. The failure of these platforms to implement meaningful self-regulation poses significant concerns, especially considering the financial incentives tied to children using their services.

Bryn Austin, a professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Harvard and a senior author on the study, emphasized, "Although social media platforms may claim that they can self-regulate their practices to reduce the harms to young people, they have yet to do so, and our study suggests they have overwhelming financial incentives to continue to delay taking meaningful steps to protect children."

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has supported the idea of prohibiting children under 16 from creating social media accounts, stating that excessive online activity at a young age significantly harms their mental well-being.

In late May, the prime minister supported raising the minimum age for social media account registration from 13 to 16, intending to give teenagers more time to mature without encountering online social pressures.