Democratic lawmakers in New York are pushing for warning labels on social media platforms. Similar to warning labels on cigarettes or alcohol.
Two matching bills in the state Senate and Assembly would require social media companies to display a warning label when users open their apps. That warning would be designed by the state mental health commissioner.
Assemblymember Nily Rozic said it would alert people to the harms of excessive social media. Particularly the effect of addictive algorithms and notifications on teen mental health.
“No one can pretend that the increase in anxiety, depression and self-harm among young people happens in a vacuum,” Rozic said. “We cannot allow another generation of kids to grow up in unregulated, digital world that was never really built with their health, wellness and safety in mind.”
State senator Andrew Gounardes a bill sponsor, said the delayed state budget narrows the window of opportunity to pass the legislation.
“We are running up against a bit of a time crunch in terms of what bandwidth there might be left in the rest of the legislative session," Gounardes said. “I know we're gearing up to make a push these last couple of weeks. And hopefully we can get it through the funnel before it closes in mid-June.”
The proposed law is one of several recent measures to curtail the effects of social media use on mental health, especially for teens.
It follows a recommendation last year by former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to have such warning labels. New York state passed a law last year that adds parent controls to restrict algorithms and notifications for minors.
