Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On June 20, 2024, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law Senate Bill S7694, the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (“SAFE”) for Kids Act. The Act is the first of its kind to regulate the provision of addictive social media feeds to minors.

The Act defines “addictive feed” as a website, app or online service in which user-generated content is recommended, selected, or prioritized for display to a user based on information associated with the user or the user’s device, unless any of the following conditions are met:

• the recommended, selected or prioritized content is based on information that is not persistently associated with the user or user’s device, and does not concern the user’s previous interactions with user-generated content;
• the recommended, selected or prioritized content is based on user-selected privacy or accessibility settings, or technical device data;
• the user expressly and unambiguously requested the user-generated content (g., by subscribing to follow the content creator or joining the group posting the content) or the user blocked such content, but only if the content is not recommended based on other information associated with the user or the user's device that is not otherwise permissible under the Act;
• the content is a direct and private communication;
• the content is recommended, selected or prioritized only in response to a specific search inquiry by the user;
• the recommended, selected or prioritized content is next in a pre-existing sequence from the same author, creator, poster or source; or
• the recommended, selected or prioritized content is necessary to comply with the Act.

The Act prohibits social media platforms from providing children under 18 with addictive feeds without parental consent. It also restricts platforms from sending overnight notifications to minors regarding an addictive feed between midnight and 6 am Eastern Time, unless parental consent is obtained. The Act covers social media platforms that offer addictive feeds to users as a significant part of their services, and only covers conduct that takes place wholly or partly in New York. The Act does not apply in cases where a user accesses the platform from a physical location outside of the state.  

To limit access to addictive feeds under the Act, social media platforms must use commercially reasonable methods to determine a user’s age. The Act provides the Attorney General with rulemaking authority to establish regulations identifying which methods platform operators can use to determine whether a user is under the age of 18, and whether parental consent must be obtained.  

The Act will not take effect until 180 days after the New York Attorney General promulgates its rules regarding the Act’s implementation. Enforcement actions will not begin until at least 180 days after the Act’s effective date.