Tech companies with young users have until January 2027 to comply with New York’s sweeping finalized guardrails on social media platforms.
The framework released Tuesday is among the most advanced for children’s online safety in the US and comes amid a national movement to further restrict how online platforms engage with minors. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and Attorney General Letitia James, in announcing the final regulations, have blamed such platforms for a rise in depression and anxiety among children and teens.
The final rules have been over two years in the making and will require social media companies to restrict algorithmically personalized feeds and nighttime notifications for users under 18 without parental consent. The law restricting such feeds, championed by Hochul and James, was signed in June 2024.
Under the rules, platforms must collect data about their users’ ages in compliance with one of several age assurance methods. Those methods must meet accuracy thresholds and protect user data, and can include options such as uploading a government ID, photos or videos of the user, or the platform cross-checking additional user data, such as email addresses or phone numbers. They must keep that data for at least five years.
Platforms are also barred from disclosing in communications to parents “any information to the parent that reveals a covered user’s use of, or other activity associated with the addictive online platform,” a nod to concerns from some groups when the law was enacted that it could harm LGBTQ teenagers who use social media as a resource.
That would mean parents wouldn’t be able to view “personalized attributes” associated with the minor, content selections or interactions made online by the minor, pieces of content that could be available algorithmically, or the settings choices made by the minor. The regulations allow platforms to restrict the availability of obscene or otherwise objectionable content.
The regulations require platforms to collect data on age assurance methods, including when it’s attempted and how often it successfully confirms age.
The regulations exempt online platforms that have fewer than 5 million monthly active users or fewer than 20,000 monthly users who are minors, except when young users are the primary audience for such a platform.
Companies that don’t comply face possible lawsuits from the attorney general, plus civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation.
