Like a cigarette pack, New York will require social media platforms to display warning labels about potential harm to mental health, particularly for young users. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the law on Friday, targeting Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Reddit and any platform that uses mechanisms designed to prolong use.
The law applies to features such as addictive feeds, autoplay, infinite scrolling, like counters, notifications and push alerts. Under the new rules, warnings must appear every time a user enters a platform defined as addictive, not just once at registration.
Platforms will be prohibited from hiding the warnings, and users will not be able to skip or bypass them.
The timing, frequency and duration of the warnings will be set later. The wording itself will be determined by New York’s mental health commissioner in consultation with health and education experts, with authority to update the text annually.
Explanatory notes accompanying the legislation cite a call by the former US surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, to add warning labels to social media platforms due to what he described as significant harm to young users.
The law references estimates that teenagers aged 12 to 15 who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression. As of summer 2023, average daily use in that age group stood at 4.8 hours. Supporting documents also argue that the stimulation generated by social media activates reward centers in the brain in patterns resembling addiction to drugs or gambling. Hochul has repeatedly compared the warnings to familiar labels on tobacco and alcohol products and on packaging that may endanger children.
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Children who spend hours online are at risk of developing depression and anxiety
(Illustartion: Shutterstock)
Enforcement will be handled by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who will be empowered to file lawsuits and seek damages, including fines of up to $5,000 per violation. The law applies even if a company operates outside the state, as long as use occurs wholly or partly within New York. It does not apply when a user is physically outside state boundaries. The law will take effect 180 days after the state attorney general finalizes the required enforcement regulations.
Meta, Alphabet, TikTok and Snap had not responded to requests for comment.
The move is part of a broader global push to tighten oversight of apps used by minors. Earlier this month, Australia went further by banning children under 16 from using Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat and Facebook. Responsibility there was placed on the companies rather than parents or children. According to Australia’s regulator, platforms that fail to take reasonable steps to prevent such accounts could face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars, about 106 million shekels.
Countries including Denmark and Malaysia have announced plans to adopt similar models. In Europe, Britain, Germany and France have already restricted minors’ access to certain social media features.