The legislation — the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation for Kids Act and the Child Data Protection Act — has received fierce opposition from Big Tech companies that have also sought to arm their lobbying and advocacy cause with an array of well-established nonprofit organizations that represent the interests of immigrants, minorities, youth and LGBTQ New Yorkers.
Although the bills did not get included in the recent state budget, where controversial policy measures sometimes are rolled in at the behest of conference leaders, numerous lawmakers familiar with the negotiations said the Internet safety measures are expected to pass overwhelmingly in both the Assembly and the Senate. Gov. Kathy Hochul also has supported the proposals. In the Assembly, more than 76 Democrats have signed on to support the legislation — a number that lawmakers said is usually the threshold that Speaker Carl E. Heastie requires for a bill to reach a floor vote.
"It is clear that the public and Legislature are ready for this legislation," said Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, a Queens Democrat and the chief Assembly sponsor of both bills. "The data is clear: there is a clear correlation between child/teen mental health and the amount of time they spend on social media. The SAFE for Kids Act aims to get to the root of that by limiting addictive algorithms that work to hook young users into endless scrolling."
The lawmakers also have gained support of numerous organizations, many of them influential, that include the state School Boards Association, New York State United Teachers union, multiple urban leagues, Mothers Against Media Addiction and the United Federation of Teachers.
"Research shows that youth who spend more than three hours a day on social media double their risk for depression and anxiety," the 26 groups in support of the legislation wrote in a recent memo. "More than half of teens say that social media makes them feel worse about their body image. The average time young people spend online is nine hours per day, leading to disrupted sleep cycles, poor self-esteem, and reduced engagement in necessary activities for healthy development."
Some of the most coordinated opposition has been organized by Tech: NYC, which is behind the Inclusive Internet Coalition, and had early in its efforts managed to gain support from the New York Civil Liberties Union, Hispanic Federation, Brooklyn Community Pride Center, New Immigrant Community Empowerment and the Asian American Federation.
Will Chabot, a spokesman for Tech: NYC and the Inclusive Internet Coalition, told the Times Union in March that after a bill intended to regulate social media was introduced last year by state Sen. Andrew Gounardes, officials with Tech: NYC "began reaching out to the groups representing communities that might be adversely impacted, including LGBTQ+, immigrant, elderly communities and more."
Chabot noted that a provision of the legislation that would set age and identity verification requirements "could have prevented people without government IDs, such as undocumented immigrants, from accessing the
Internet to find legal services."
"The New York Inclusive Internet Coalition was formed out of these conversations to educate communities about the harmful unintended consequences this legislation would have for many New Yorkers, and lift up their voices and perspectives for a wider audience," he said.
But the Times Union first reported in March that some of the groups enlisted by the coalition had pulled back and many lawmakers have said they view that effort as part of well-coordinated "astroturfing" operation by Big Tech companies, including Google and Meta. "Astroturfing" refers to the practice in politics of corporations funding efforts to create an illusion that an issue or a candidate has support from grassroots organizations.
Chabot, however, said the groups "stand by our assertion that this legislation could harm vulnerable communities."
The data protection act would prohibit online sites from "collecting, using, sharing, or otherwise processing any personal data of individuals under the age of 18 without informed consent. It also prohibits disclosing any data of minors to third parties unless there is a written binding agreement."
The SAFE Act would "prohibit social media platforms from providing an addictive feed to children younger than 18 without parental consent and prohibits social media platforms from withholding non-addictive feed products or services where that consent is not obtained."
The stated purposed of that bill is to protect the mental health of children who lawmakers said become addicted to social media platforms.
Gounardes, a Brooklyn Democrat, is still guarded in his confidence that both bills will pass unscathed.
"We're still facing some headwinds and opposition from the tech lobby," Gounardes said. "They're trying to still make the case publicly and privately that algorithms are good. They're trying to get us to consider other less effective means of regulation that they want to water down. So... I don't want to say that we have this in the bag. We're still up against quite a bit of opposition."
The senator said that two things are working in favor of the bills' sponsors: big issues such as the state's housing crisis and Medicaid funding were dealt with in the budget negotiations, and he and other lawmakers have spent several months trying to "educate" their colleagues on the legislation's purpose.
"Other states are taking action and we have not yet, and so I think folks feel that imperative also," he added.
Among other things, Gounardes' initial legislation that failed to gain traction last year had sought to restrict companies from collecting data on children and using it to target them with marketed content. The bill cited statistics that show American children spend nearly eight hours per day online, with many suffering sleep deprivation as they struggle to turn off their devices while being exposed to unbridled platforms where they can be bullied, view inappropriate content and even purchase drugs.
Gounardes has asserted that Tech: NYC had essentially hijacked the various grassroots organizations that were listed on coalition documents to buttress its position and present itself as standing up for vulnerable individuals — including homeless children, the elderly and immigrants.
The spokesman for Tech: NYC and the coalition disputed that they used those groups as political muscle to kill the legislation. They also denied that they have distributed any misleading information.
But the strategy to enlist groups that represent vulnerable groups is one Big Tech has deployed in other states.
Tech: NYC is also aligned with the interests of Chamber of Progress, a national trade organization that has a long list of partners that include Amazon, Apple, Google and Snap, the company that owns Snapchat. Like Tech: NYC, Chamber of Progress has been highlighting what it contends are serious flaws in the legislation intended to protect children from dire health consequences tied to using social media platforms.
"Chamber of Progress is actively engaged with policymakers in more than a dozen states on digital legislation targeting kids and teens, so New York is not our organization's first time working on this issue," Chris MacKenzie, a spokesman for the organization, told the Times Union in March.
The fierce debate in New York has unfolded as federal lawmakers are also proposing similar legislation that would regulate social media platforms and their products use by children.
"If the federal government were to pass legislation we would welcome it, but the reality is it has been years and federal child privacy and social media regulations have not been updated in decades," Rozic said. "As state legislators we will not wait aimlessly for other to act when we can be protecting New York children today."
The effort in New York has also been a months-long battle.
In October, Gounardes and Rozic joined Gov. Kathy Hochul and state Attorney General Letitia James at the United Federation of Teachers headquarters in New York City to announce the SAFE Act and the New York Child Data Protection Act.
But that time, the legislation was crafted with the help of the attorney general's office, with the intent of making the measures defensible against any constitutional or other legal challenges.
"Social media platforms are fueling a national youth mental health crisis that is harming children's well-being and safety," James said in a statement at the time. "Young New Yorkers are struggling with record levels of anxiety and depression, and social media companies that use addictive features to keep minors on their platforms longer are largely to blame."
In the wake of that legislation being introduced, the efforts of Tech: NYC and Chamber of Progress ramped up. The organizations raised questions about the provisions that would regulate online age verification, require parental consent and restrict "addictive features," including curated content that uses algorithms.
In a memo of opposition circulated in February, Tech: NYC detailed its concerns about the new legislation, including the age verification provisions that it said raise "new privacy concerns for individuals as well as obstacles to accessing social media and online resources for those without documentation and the elderly."
The memo cited concerns with lawmakers' attempts to regulate the use of algorithms. It also warned that constitutional challenges have been brought in other states where similar laws have been alleged to "impede the online privacy of youth and autonomy of parents to oversee their children's social media usage." They also have asserted that age and identity requirements could prevent those without government identification, including undocumented immigrants, from accessing Internet services.
Gounardes has countered that the campaign of "misinformation" is intended to protect the interests of Big Tech. He alleges the effort in New York, an offshoot of a broader national campaign, is designed to protect the billions of dollars Big Tech reaps in ad revenues from algorithmic marketing.
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