XPost: alt.politics.media, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.guns   
   XPost: sac.politics   
   From: biden-lie-factory@nytimes.com   
      
   Big changes are coming for New York’s youngest social media users after Gov.   
   Kathy Hochul signed two bills into law Thursday clamping down on digital   
   platforms’ algorithms and use of children’s data.   
      
   The unprecedented move makes New York the first state to pass a law   
   regulating social media algorithms amid nationwide allegations that apps   
   such as Instagram or TikTok have hooked users with addictive features.   
      
   Hochul’s signature comes days after US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called   
   for warning labels to be applied to social media platforms, fueling a debate   
   about social media’s potential impact on the mental health of users,   
   particularly teens.   
      
   Under New York’s SAFE For Kids Act, social media platforms will be required   
   to display content chronologically by default for kids under 18, while the   
   New York Child Data Protection Act will restrict websites from collecting or   
   sharing the personal data of users under 18 without consent — expanding on   
   existing federal privacy protections for children under 13.   
      
   The SAFE For Kids Act also requires platforms to limit late-night app   
   notifications that state lawmakers say are engineered to drive user   
   engagement and that risk hindering sleep. Both pieces of legislation were   
   introduced last fall and cleared the state legislature in early June.   
      
   New York officials hailed the legislation as a critical check on social   
   media platforms’ influence over teens.   
      
   “Today, we save our children,” Hochul said Thursday at a press conference.   
   “We have heard their cries for help, reminding us as adults that we have a   
   moral responsibility to protect young New Yorkers from harm and from   
   addictive forces.”   
      
   In a statement Thursday afternoon, a Meta spokesperson said, “While we   
   don’t   
   agree with every aspect of these bills, we welcome New York becoming the   
   first state to pass legislation recognizing the responsibility of app   
   stores.”   
      
   “According to research, the vast majority of parents support legislation   
   requiring app stores to obtain parental approval to download apps, and we   
   will continue to work with policymakers in New York and elsewhere to advance   
   this approach,” the spokesperson said.   
      
   CNN has reached out to Google, Snap and TikTok for comment.   
      
   Some academics have said that while studies highlight associations between   
   specific types of social media activities and negative mental health   
   outcomes – such as engaging in social comparison – a causal link between   
   those harms and general social media use is less clear. Still, numerous   
   states and federal lawmakers have pushed for legislation clamping down on   
   social media platforms, arguing that tech companies’ products are to blame   
   for eating disorders, sleeplessness, distraction and, in some cases, self-   
   harm and suicide.   
      
   “We will save lives with this, my friends,” Hochul said at Thursday’s   
   press   
   conference.   
      
   New York Attorney General Letitia James added Thursday that the legislation   
   would take on “the most dangerous aspects of social media, the addictive   
   algorithm feeds that exploit impressionable minds.”   
      
   “These bills will empower my office to set rules and ensure companies are   
   following them,” James said.   
      
   Opponents of the social media algorithm bill — including but not limited to   
   the tech industry — have said the legislation is likely unconstitutional   
   because it infringes on children’s First Amendment rights and raises other   
   questions about how social media can function in practice across state   
   lines.   
      
   “It’s a well-intentioned effort, but it’s aimed at the wrong target,”   
   said   
   Adam Kovacevich, CEO of the tech industry advocacy group Chamber of   
   Progress. “Algorithmic curation makes teenagers’ feeds healthier, and   
   banning algorithms is going to make social media worse for teens.”   
      
   The legislation’s signing sets the stage for another in a long string of   
   court battles over state social media laws.   
      
   States such as Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana and many others have passed laws   
   clamping down on social media companies’ approach to teens. Industry groups   
   have challenged some of that legislation, and courts have largely viewed the   
   laws with skepticism. In Ohio this year, for example, a federal judge   
   temporarily blocked a law prohibiting online platforms from creating   
   accounts for users under 16 unless they obtain parental consent, saying the   
      
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