NEW YORK—The state of New York is preparing to regulate online social media platforms by requiring child protection measures, such as age verification. Proposed rules announced on Monday by the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James confirm the implementation of age verification measures.
As a press release from James' office explains, these proposed rules derive from the SAFE for Kids Act. The act was adopted by the legislature in the 2023-2024 session.
“Children and teenagers are struggling with high rates of anxiety and depression because of addictive features on social media platforms,” Attorney General James said in a statement. "The proposed rules released by my office today will help us tackle the youth mental health crisis and make social media safer for kids and families."
These proposed rules include the implementation of age assurance measures that are endorsed by anti-pornography stakeholders and the Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA). Iain Corby, the executive director of the AVPA, was featured in the press release provided by James' office.
“As an organization that represents more than 30 companies that provide privacy-preserving age assurance technology through a variety of methods, we are certain that the preliminary rules issued by the New York Attorney General Letitia James establish a meaningful but flexible standard that online platforms can comfortably meet through existing age assurance technology and in an economical manner," Corby said.
"We applaud the hard work of Attorney General James and her team to understand our technology and develop such well-designed rules," he added. "We look forward to more jurisdictions in the U.S. following their lead.”
AVPA has aggressively lobbied against the First Amendment protections of the adult entertainment industry and technology companies that own social media platforms.
James' proposed regulations will impact mainstream social media networks that are popular among adult entertainment performers for marketing and traffic acquisition. These platforms include X, Instagram, TikTok, Reddi, and Snapchat, among others.
