Why New York's social media regulations haven't taken effect yet

Also: Lawmakers want to give the state Health Department more power over vaccines.

Good afternoon — it’s Friday, and Chop Suey Day.

In today’s CapCon:

• Regulations to implement New York’s social media restrictions for minors are nearly finished, but months remain before they would take effect.

• Amid new federal restrictions on the COVID-19 vaccine, two state lawmakers want to give NY health officials more power.

• Therapeutic agriculture activities could soon be eligible for state grants and benefits in New York.

Names in today’s CapCon: Kathy Hochul, Letitia James, Tech:NYC, Andrew Gounardes, Nily Rozic, NetChoice, Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Micah Lasher, Dan Stec, John Liu

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(Seth Wenig/Associated Press)

📱 New York’s landmark social media law is getting closer to implementation

When Gov. Kathy Hochul attended a roundtable with education leaders in western New York on Monday, something she said caught my attention.

Hochul was there to highlight the state’s new “bell-to-bell” ban on the use of cellphones in schools, one of her top legislative achievements this year. She tied it to another law that was at the top of her list last year.

“Another fight we took on with the state Legislature against big tech companies was that we said there's such negative influence on our young people coming from addictive algorithms that are bombarding students,” Hochul said. “We stopped all that in New York.”

She was talking about the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) For Kids Act, which she signed into law in June 2024 after several months of advocacy on the measure.

Those efforts proved successful: Only one member of the 213-member Legislature voted against it.

The law prohibits social media companies from serving content to children using an algorithm developed using their personal data. It also blocks them from sending children notifications overnight.

Parents can choose to give their consent for their children to still view content based on that kind of algorithm. Otherwise, it’s up to the companies to figure out which users are children and treat them as such in line with the law.

The reasons Hochul’s remarks caught my attention? More than a year after she signed it, the law is not yet in effect and won’t be for several months as kids head back to school in the coming days.