The governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, reiterated this Tuesday her decision to enact as soon as possible, one of the first legislations in the country that will address the harmful and addictive impacts of social networks and protections for children in the digital environment.
The regulations that should go into effect this summer at the latest will be based on two bills: the law to stop the exploitation of addictive sources for children, known as SAFE, and the New York children’s data protection law, to restrict the collection of personal data of minors by online sites.
Both pieces of legislation, which must pass before the end of legislative sessions in June, will add protections for children and young adults, completely changing the way young users receive online content, and will require controls for access to those under 18 years of age. , reducing the hours of exposure to networks and creating alternatives so that parents and representatives can monitor the use of these platforms more.
“These addictive content correlates with an increase in the amount of time teens and young adults spend on social media. And with significant negative results for your mental health. There are clear associations with this trend and the rates of depression and suicide,” reasoned the state president.
In a meeting with activists from the Mental Health Association of New York State (MHANYS), the state leader indicated that after meetings with advocates and families throughout the state, she has reinforced the commitment to advance legislation, to “combat the addictive social networks and protecting children online.”
Depression, anxiety…
Today, more than a third of children ages 13 to 17 nationwide report using social media “almost constantly” and admit that this is “too much.”
However, more than half of these children report that they would find it difficult to reduce their use of social media.
Multiple studies shared by New York Health authorities, to reinforce the need to approve this legislative package, have found a link between the excessive use of these platforms, poor quality of sleep and emotional problems among young people.
Another report has shown that adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on screens face twice the risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes, including symptoms of depression and anxiety.
How to control the RR.SS?
The SAFE Act will require social media companies to restrict the “addictive features of their platforms” that harm young users the most. Currently, digital companies complement the content that users see in their accounts, offering them information from accounts that they do not follow or subscribe to.
This content is selected using algorithms that collect and display content based on a variety of factors.
However, algorithmic feeds have been proven to be addictive, because they prioritize content that keeps users on the platform longer.
To address this problem, legislation promoted by New York Attorney General Letitia James, State Senator Andrew Gounardes and Assemblywoman Nily Rozic will attempt to regulate the use of social media by prohibiting minors from accessing content “considered as addictive”, without the consent of their parents.
In practice, the law will force users under 18 to have a chronology and a clear record of the users they already follow.
Additionally, parents will be allowed to block minors from accessing social media platforms between 12:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. and will limit the total number of hours per day a minor spends on the platforms.
Social media platforms will be prohibited from sending notifications to minors between 12:00 am and 6:00 am, without parental consent.
The SAFE legislation. will authorize the attorney general’s office to bring an action to enjoin or seek damages or civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation. At the same time, any parent or guardian will be allowed to file a claim for damages of up to $5,000 per user, for each incident or actual damages.
These regulations will only affect social media platforms with feeds made up of user-generated content, along with materials that the platform recommends based on the data it collects from people.
“As we continue our work, we often hear from young people and their families about the challenges related to excessive social media use, and we applaud New York State’s focus on addressing this problem,” explained Glenn Liebman, CEO of MHANYS.
Online privacy for children
Additionally, New York’s Children’s Data Protection Law will seek to end the era of weak privacy protections for minors online, as children are vulnerable to having their location and other personal data tracked and shared with others. third parties.
This legal proposal will prohibit all online sites from collecting, using, sharing or selling personal data of anyone under 18 years of age, unless they receive informed consent or unless doing so is strictly necessary for the purpose of the website.
For users under 13 years of age, this informed consent must come from a parent. The bill authorizes the prosecutor’s office to pursue claims for damages or civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation.
Arguing that children also face unique risks when their data is collected online, both pieces of legislation, which are “cooking” very quickly in New York, will protect children by prohibiting online platforms from collecting and sharing their data. personal without consent and will limit the addictive features of social media platforms.
“It is not a simple task”
In contrast, spokespersons for Tech:NYC, an organization representing the New York City technology industry, which includes Google, Meta and others, questioned the effectiveness of the proposals.
“Protecting the safety of children online is a priority shared by each of our technology companies. However, in pursuing this goal, we must not sacrifice user privacy or First Amendment rights, something these proposals would risk doing inadvertently,” reasoned Julie Samuels, spokesperson for this organization in a statement shared by the media. digital City & State.
Additionally, he warned that age verification could require even more personal data from children and their parents, an issue that has arisen in legislation in other states.
“Verifying the ages and parental relationships of Internet users is not a simple task,” Samuels concluded.
Contradicting this position, prosecutor Letitia James, one of the promoters of this legislation, indicates that technology companies already have mechanisms to determine the ages of users, and the new rule would simply require that these companies act based on that information.
NYC has already taken action
For its part, the City of New York has also taken informative actions to prevent inappropriate and excessive use of these platforms by minors. According to a social media notice, presented by the Department of Health (DOHMH): the mental health of youth in New York City has been worsening for more than a decade.
In 2021, 38% of the city’s high school students reported feeling so sad or hopeless over the past year that they gave up their usual activities, compared to 27% in 2011.
Rates of suicidal ideation also increased, with nearly one in 10 students in the Big Apple reporting a suicide attempt in the past year in 2021.
But the chapter that draws the most attention, in these worrying statistics, is that “at the same time, the use of social networks increased.”
For the health authorities of the Big Apple, the conclusion is that after months of analysis, social networks can distort body image, damage self-esteem and invite addiction.
In fact, one of the main pieces of advice from DOHMH Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan, based on available research, is to prevent a child under 14 years of age from being indiscriminately exposed to social media, tablets, or smartphones. .
Vasan’s foundation is that between the ages of eight and 14 it is known that human beings are in a process of neurological development, when personality, the concept of risk and sensitivity towards others are built.
Last February, New York City announced the filing of a lawsuit to hold five social media platforms (TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and YouTube) accountable for fueling the nationwide growth of mental health issues in the United States. younger.
In this way, the Big Apple joined hundreds of school districts across the country to file lawsuits that seek to force the technology giants to make some modifications, while also holding them responsible for the costs of addressing this threat to public health.
NYC celebrates support for mental health
Last year, the launch of TeenSpace was announced, a free telemental health service available to all New York City teens, ages 13 to 17, allowing them to connect with a licensed therapist via phone, video and text.
Precisely, this Tuesday, Mayor Eric Adams celebrated in his weekly media conference that in the first six months of operation, this virtual clinic has served more than 7,000 young people in the five boroughs and the largest number comes from some of the neighborhoods lower income
The neighborhoods with the highest number of registrations were Brownsville, Canarsie and East New York in Brooklyn, and Morrisania and Norwood in the Bronx. These areas, which have some of the highest poverty rates in the city, have historically lacked widespread access to mental health services, officials said.
The data:
- 97% of teens report being online daily, and research has found that frequent social media use among teens may be associated with long-term developmental harm.