Social media platforms with "addictive" design features may be required to display mental health warning labels on their websites for New York users, a move that advocates for family-friendly media have praised.
Senate Bill S4505 passed in the New York Senate last week and in the Assembly last Tuesday, and it awaits New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's signature.
The bill would require social media platforms that use addictive design features to display warning labels after users access the website. The bill, sponsored by New York state Sen. Andrew Gounardes and Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, follows calls from then-U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy for warning labels on social media platforms.
"New York joins Minnesota in recognizing that social media can be harmful to children and teens and requiring warning labels to be added to platforms," Melissa Henson, the vice president of Parents Television and Media Council, said in a statement provided to The Christian Post.
"Just like warning labels were added to cigarette packages, social media labels are intended to warn users against the harms. It's one common-sense solution among many that rightly aims to confront social media harms," Henson added.
PTC, which advocates for a safe media environment for children and families, commended the Minnesota Legislature earlier this month for passing the social media warning label bill. The legislation in Minnesota will require that social media platforms present clear warnings about the risks of social media use and provide direct links to crisis services.
Under the Minnesota legislation, platforms will have until July 1 to comply with the requirements outlined in the bill.
California is also considering a bill, AB 56, that would require social media platforms to display warning labels about potential mental health harms associated with social media use. In Texas, the proposed House Bill 499 would require certain social media platforms to include a warning label about the association between a minor's social media usage and potential mental health issues.
"More states are recognizing the harms of social media and taking steps to mitigate or eliminate them," Henson said. "Utah, Georgia, New York, Florida, Virginia, Texas, Minnesota, and New York are among the states that have introduced or enacted laws that deal with social media harms on children."
Critics of the New York bill, such as the industry association NetChoice, say its "government overreach that violates fundamental constitutional principles while failing to provide meaningful solutions."
"While we share the Legislature's concern for youth mental health, this bill represents a fundamentally flawed approach that violates core constitutional principles while failing to address the underlying issues it purports to solve," NetChoice's director of state and federal affairs, Amy Bos, said in a statement.
"The proposed legislation constitutes an unprecedented expansion of government power that would compel private companies to espouse the state's preferred messaging, a clear violation of the First Amendment's protection against compelled speech," Bos argued.
Henson said the only critics of social media warning labels are the Big Tech industry and its lobbyists.
"But when children are exposed to sexually explicit content, predators, and other harmful content through powerful algorithms on social media platforms, and because children and teens can become addicted to screen time, it's time for our elected officials to act," the PTC vice president said.
According to a survey of teens ages 13 to 17 published last year by the Pew Research Center, 96% of teenagers reported that they're online daily and nearly half said that they're online almost constantly.
Seventy-three percent of participants in the survey, conducted from Sept. 18 to Oct. 10, 2024, said they visit YouTube daily. Roughly half of the teenagers said that they visit Instagram or Snapchat daily, and about one in 10 reported that they visit these social media platforms almost constantly.
"The share of teens who say they use Instagram almost constantly has increased slightly, from 8% in 2023 to 12% today," the survey stated.
According to a study published by JAMA last week, children who are addicted to screens are at a higher risk for suicidal behaviors.
