New Yorkers will soon have to verify their age to access algorithmic feeds

New Yorkers who want to see their Instagram or TikTok feed controlled by an algorithm, or receive notifications in the middle of the night, will soon have to prove their age to access this.

New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) issued final orders how to implement the SAFE for Kids Act, signed into law and Governor Kathy Hochul (D) in June 2024. The rules detail what social media sites that comply with the rules will need to do to comply, including standards for understanding the age of users, and how to go about obtaining parental consent for children to use parental controls. The law will go into effect on January 25, 2027. After that, failure to comply can cost the platform up to $5,000 per violation.

In order to provide access to algorithmic feeds, or information between 12 AM and 6 AM for adults, social media sites with user-generated content and users who spend about 20 percent of their time on algorithmic feeds will need to verify the age of users using a method that achieves a certain accuracy. limit. The regulations do not specify a method for determining age, but they indicate low error rates that they must meet, and the ability to detect attempts to prevent age checks 98 percent of the time. Providing a government-issued ID is one way platforms can choose to check age, but the law also requires them to provide one more option. Information collected to determine the age of users must be deleted immediately or notified after use.

The rules also explain how parental consent to access age-appropriate content should work. Children under the age of 18 may request parental permission to access walled content, and must consent to parental notification. But the platform cannot prevent children from using the app’s age-restricted features or searching for content because their parents have not approved age-restricted features. Parents and children can revoke their consent, and the platform does not have to show parents anything about their children’s browsing history or topics to get permission.

The final rules look very similar to the AG’s the first thought in September. But now that it’s done, critics who warn that age verification would infringe on New Yorkers’ privacy and free speech may block it. Courts often side with tech companies to the exclusion of other government regulations to enforce age verification, even the Supreme Court opened the door to age verification followed Texas law it wants to find great websites.