FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JULY 28, 2026

New York State Senator Andrew Gounardes issued the following statement after the Office of New York State Attorney General Letitia James published implementing rules to enforce the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act:

“I passed this law for a simple reason: children's safety should come before Big Tech’s profits. The SAFE For Kids Act protects kids from addictive algorithms that force-feed them content they don’t want and put their mental health at risk. These new regulations bring the law to life by keeping young people safe while protecting New Yorkers’ online privacy and holding social media corporations accountable. Thanks to Attorney General James for her crucial work to get this done. Together, we’re building a safer, better internet for all New Yorkers.”

Background:

The SAFE for Kids Act, sponsored by Senator Gounardes and Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, requires social media companies to restrict the addictive features on their platforms that most harm young users. Currently, platforms supplement the content that users view from the accounts they follow by serving them additional content from accounts they do not follow or subscribe to. This content is curated using algorithms that gather and display content based on a variety of factors. Algorithmic feeds have been shown to be addictive because they prioritize content that keeps users on the platform longer. Addictive feeds are correlated with an increase in the amount of time that teens and young adults spend on social media and significant negative mental health outcomes.

To address this problem, the legislation:

• Bans social media platforms from offering addictive feeds to users under 18 without parental consent. Instead, users will receive a chronological feed of content from only the users that they already follow or of generally popular content—the same way social media functioned before the advent of addictive feeds. Users may also search for specific topics of interest.
• Prohibits social media platforms from sending notifications to minors from 12AM and 6AM without parental consent.
• Authorize the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) to bring an action to enjoin or seek damages or civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation.

The legislation gave the Office of the New York Attorney General rulemaking authority to ensure effective enforcement. Under the regulations, only apps with user-generated content where users spend more than 20% of their time on an algorithmic feed are covered—including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, and Twitter/X. The regulations don’t prescribe specific age assurance methods, but instead set minimum standards to ensure they’re accurate, safe, and protect user privacy. The regulations carefully balance technical feasibility with the need to protect young people, and ensure the platforms impacted by the law are those responsible for the greatest harm. 

The final rules will be published in the State Register on July 29, 2026. The SAFE for Kids Act goes into effect 180 days later, on January 25, 2027.

Read the full final rules here.

Press Contact:

Billy Richling

Communications Director

State Senator Andrew Gounardes

billy@senatorgounardes.nyc

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