New York signs parental control of ‘addictive’ social media feeds into law

Bills signed by Kathy Hochul lets parents restrict children from suggested posts and adds limits on use of minors' data

New York's governor, Kathy Hochul, signed two bills into law on Thursday meant to mitigate negative impacts of social media on children, the latest action to address what critics say is a growing youth mental health crisis.

The first bill will require that parents be able to stop their children from seeing posts suggested by a social network's algorithm, a move to limit feeds Hochul argues are addictive. The second will put additional limitations on the collection, use, sharing and selling of personal data of anyone under the age of 18.