New York set to restrict social-media algorithms for teens

The legislation is aimed at preventing social-media companies from serving automated feeds to minors, with such feeds facing criticism for leading children to violent and sexually explicit content. The bill, which is still being finalized but expected to be voted on this week, would also prohibit platforms from sending minors notifications during overnight hours without parental consent.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, has said the measure would make social media less addictive, adding that heavy usage by teens has contributed to higher instances of mental illness. Industry groups have raised questions about the constitutionality of the proposal and said media literacy would have a more immediate impact. They have successfully won court injunctions blocking regulations in other states from taking effect.

New York would become the first state to enact restrictions on how content is delivered, though similar legislation is also advancing in California. Lawmakers in Minnesota and South Carolina considered but didn’t act on similar measures in their legislative sessions this year.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in March signed a law prohibiting people under 14 years of age from having social-media accounts, regardless of parental consent, one of the most restrictive laws aimed at curbing social-media access for minors.

The continued march of state regulation is happening as the issue is stalled in Congress. While federal lawmakers in both parties grilled tech CEOs earlier this year, they haven’t coalesced around a specific legislative plan.

“It does call for a federal response," Hochul said during a Monday morning interview on National Public Radio. “I, as the leader of this state, cannot ignore the signs of distress and trauma among our young people. And it’s definitely correlated to what is happening with these social media feeds."

Lawmakers in New York and California said they hoped their approach would pass legal muster because it regulates how feeds are assembled but doesn’t restrict any particular kind of content.

Under these proposals, underage users could choose to follow whatever account they wished, but feeds would be presented in chronological order. An executive at NetChoice, a trade group whose members include Facebook-parent Meta and X, said this would still violate the First Amendment because it restricts content organization.

“It is less unconstitutional. Unfortunately, when it comes to constitutionality, close doesn’t count. You either are or you aren’t," said Carl Szabo, NetChoice’s vice president and general counsel. “This legislation continues to violate free speech protections granted to New York citizens."

Before reaching an agreement Monday, aides to Hochul and Democrats who dominate the state legislature spent weeks tweaking the legislation as lobbyists working for tech companies pushed back. Language allowing parents to sue companies over infractions was dropped from the final version, according to people briefed on the agreement.

Enforcement would instead be delegated to New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat who has lobbied for the bill. Her office would also be tasked with issuing regulations about methods for platforms to determine whether a user is a minor.

Julie Samuels, president and chief executive of the trade group Tech:NYC, whose members include Google and Meta, said she was glad the right to private legal action was dropped from the bill. She said she was concerned about implementing an age-verification system that is “effective, efficient and workable."

“To get this right takes more than just legislation," Samuels said.

The Democratic-controlled New York state Senate and Assembly will vote on the measure before their scheduled adjournment this week, legislative officials said. Last month, the California state Senate approved a bill similar to the New York measure with a bipartisan 35-2 vote. It must now be taken up by the state’s lower chamber before its scheduled August adjournment.

“We’ve had to go back to the drawing board and very carefully construct our legislation to try and anticipate how a court would react," said Nancy Skinner, a Democrat who sponsored the California bill. “Republicans and Democrats—we’re universally concerned about the impact of social media on our kids."

California in 2022 enacted a law requiring makers of social-media apps to study products and features that are likely to be accessed by minors and mitigate any potential harm before releasing them to the public.

That law was set to take effect in July but was put on hold in response to a lawsuit filed by NetChoice.

Write to Jimmy Vielkind at jimmy.vielkind@wsj.com