New York has passed two Acts protecting underage social media users. Credit: First Glimpse Photography/shutterstock

New York regulators have passed an act banning the exposure of addictive social media algorithms to users under 18. 

The news of New York’s act was first reported by The Wall Street Journal on 3 June before the state passed the act. 

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The SAFE for Kids Act will require parents to give permission to social media companies to send notifications to children’s devices between the times of 12:00am and 06:00am. 

In a statement, the New York Assembly said that social media companies had deliberately created unsafe and addictive algorithms that promoted prolonged use of their sites.  

This prolonged use, the Assembly said, could lead to higher rates of mental health problems among children. 

“Our children are enduring a mental health crisis, and social media is fueling the fire and profiting from the epidemic,” stated New York’s Attorney General Letitia James. 

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“New York state is once again leading the nation, and I hope other states will follow suit and pass legislation to protect children and put their mental health above big tech companies’ profits,” said James. 

Alongside the SAFE for Kids Act, New York also published a Child Data Protection Act to prevent social media companies collecting and using personal data on users under 18. 

New York Assembly stated that this would protect underage users from having a wealth of personal data stored on them that could be used against them. 

“As technology evolves, so must the ways we protect our kids from harm – both on and offline,” said Assembly speaker Carl Heastie. 

“These bills will give parents the tools to help protect kids from predatory practices that impact their mental health by eliminating the addictive personalised feeds and will make online privacy the default for New York’s children, preventing companies from collecting and using their data,” he said.