Assembly Bill A9446

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9446
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              January 6, 2026
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. ROZIC -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Consumer Affairs and Protection
 
 AN ACT to amend a chapter of the laws of 2025 amending the general busi-
   ness law and the mental hygiene  law  relating  to  requiring  warning
   labels on addictive social media platforms, as proposed in legislative
   bills  numbers  S.  4505  and  A. 5346, in relation to the legislative
   intent and the effectiveness thereof; to amend  the  general  business
   law, in relation to warning labels on addictive feature platforms; and
   to repeal section 7.48 of the mental hygiene law relating to addictive
   social media platform warning labels
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Section 1 of a chapter of the laws  of  2025  amending  the
 general  business  law  and the mental hygiene law relating to requiring
 warning labels on addictive  social  media  platforms,  as  proposed  in
 legislative  bills  numbers  S.  4505 and A. 5346, is amended to read as
 follows:
   Section 1. Legislative intent. On June 17th, 2024, US Surgeon  General
 Vivek  H. Murthy called for warning labels on social media platforms due
 to the "significant mental health harms" such platforms  pose  to  young
 users.  The  Surgeon  General had previously found, in a landmark public
 health advisory issued a year prior, that adolescents aged 12 -  15  who
 spend  more  than  three  hours a day on social media faced double their
 risk of anxiety and depression - yet as of summer  2023,  average  daily
 use  for  this  cohort  was 4.8 hours. The Surgeon General further found
 that social media companies were exploiting young users at  one  of  the
 most  vulnerable  periods  of  their  lives, while their "identities and
 self-worth are still forming," and they are "especially  susceptible  to
 social  pressures,  peer  opinions,  and  peer  comparison." The Surgeon
 General found that frequent social media use is associated with distinct
 changes in the amygdala of the brain, which regulates  emotional  learn-
 ing,  as  well as its prefrontal cortex, which regulates impulse control
 and moderates social behavior.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD08661-02-6
              

 A. 9446                             2
 
   Research  shows  that  social  media  exposure  overstimulates  reward
 centers,  creating pathways comparable to those of an individual experi-
 encing substance use or gambling addictions - findings further bolstered
 by endless national surveys wherein teenage respondents  report  feeling
 "addicted"  to social media platforms and describe the difficulties they
 encounter when they try to limit their use. Leaked internal  memos  from
 major  social  media platforms [such as Meta, Google, and TikTok] reveal
 that such companies have deployed the use of predatory features such  as
 algorithmic  feeds, endless scroll, autoplay, notifications, and "likes"
 to produce  dopamine  loops,  drawing  inspiration  from  the  "variable
 reinforcement  schedules"  produced  by gambling slot machines that keep
 users pulling the lever, or in this case,  checking  their  screens,  at
 periodic intervals for an outcome that could be intrinsically rewarding.
 Beyond  the  oft-cited  side  effects  of  depression, anxiety, and body
 dysmorphia, leaked company documents reveal that social media  companies
 knew  that  compulsive  use  of  their products was also associated with
 "loss of  analytical  skills,  memory  formation,  contextual  thinking,
 conversational  depth,  (and) empathy." Social media use is also associ-
 ated with sleep disturbance, [wherein spirals of insomnia  and  negative
 social  comparisons  reinforce and enhance each other in a vicious loop]
 WHICH CAN ALSO LEAD TO POOR HEALTH OUTCOMES.
   The cumulative impact of these addictive design features, created  for
 no  other reason than to keep a user hooked to a platform for as long as
 possible, on youth mental health has been nothing short of  devastating:
 today, nearly half of adolescents say social media makes them feel worse
 about  their  bodies. Teens with the very highest levels of social media
 use are twice as likely as those with low levels of use  to  rate  their
 mental health as poor or very poor. From 2008 to 2015, the percentage of
 hospital  visits  among  young  users for suicidal ideation and attempts
 nearly doubled. The impact has been particularly acute  amongst  adoles-
 cent  girls,  as  between  2011  and  2018, self-poisonings among 10- to
 12-year-old girls quadrupled, hospital admissions  for  self-harm  among
 10- to 14-year-old girls tripled, major depressive episodes among 12- to
 17-year-old  girls  increased  52%, and suicide among 10- to 14-year-old
 girls doubled. Among female adolescent users,  the  association  between
 poor mental health and social media use is now stronger than the associ-
 ations  between  poor mental health and binge drinking, obesity, or hard
 drug use. The US Surgeon General characterizes the current youth  mental
 crisis as nothing less than a public health emergency.
   The  legislature therefore finds that requiring social media apps with
 certain particularly noxious design features to display  warning  labels
 to  [all] users [at the point of user access, which will aim to communi-
 cate the latest peer-reviewed research on the impact of social media  on
 mental  health,] is a reasonable and necessary step to take for consumer
 health and safety. [These warning labels would be similar to those  that
 the  government has already instituted for similarly high-risk products,
 such as labels that warn that tobacco products  cause  cancer,  or  that
 drinking alcohol during pregnancy may lead to birth defects.]
   §  2.  The  article heading and sections 1520, 1521, 1522, 1523, 1524,
 1525, and 1526 of the general business law, as added by a chapter of the
 laws of 2025 amending the general business law and  the  mental  hygiene
 law relating to requiring warning labels on addictive social media plat-
 forms, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 4505 and A. 5346, are
 amended to read as follows:
                        WARNING LABELS FOR ADDICTIVE
                     [SOCIAL MEDIA] FEATURE PLATFORMS
 A. 9446                             3
 
   §  1520.  Definitions. For the purposes of this article, the following
 terms shall have the following meanings:
   1.  "Addictive  feed"  shall  mean  as  defined  in subdivision one of
 section fifteen hundred of this chapter.
   2. "ADDICTIVE FEATURE" SHALL MEAN AN ADDICTIVE FEED, AUTOPLAY,  AND/OR
 INFINITE SCROLL.
   3.  "Addictive [social media] FEATURE platform" shall mean a [website,
 online service, online application, or mobile application that primarily
 serves as a medium for covered users to interact with media generated by
 other users and which offers or  provides  covered  users  an  addictive
 feed,  push notifications, autoplay, infinite scroll, and/or like counts
 as a significant part of the services provided by such  website,  online
 service,  online  application,  or mobile application. "Addictive social
 media platform" shall not include any such service or application  which
 the attorney general determines offers the features described herein for
 a  valid  purpose  unrelated  to prolonging use of such platform] SOCIAL
 MEDIA PLATFORM WHICH OFFERS OR PROVIDES COVERED USERS AN ADDICTIVE FEED,
 AUTOPLAY, AND/OR INFINITE SCROLL AS A SIGNIFICANT PART OF  THE  SERVICES
 PROVIDED BY SUCH SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM.
   [3.] 4. "Autoplay" shall mean when [a piece of media] CONTENT is auto-
 matically played without any manual input from a covered user.
   [4.]  5.  "CONTENT"  SHALL HAVE THE SAME MEANING AS SUBDIVISION TWO OF
 SECTION ELEVEN HUNDRED OF THIS CHAPTER.
   6. "Covered operator" shall mean any person, business, or other  legal
 entity  AND ITS AGENTS AND AFFILIATES who [operates or provides] OPERATE
 OR PROVIDE an addictive [social media] FEATURE platform.
   [5.] 7. "Covered user"  shall  mean  a  user  of  [a  website,  online
 service,  online  application,  or  mobile  application in New York, not
 acting as an operator, or agent or affiliate of the  operator,  of  such
 website, online service, online application or mobile application or any
 portion  thereof]  AN ADDICTIVE FEATURE PLATFORM IN NEW YORK, NOT ACTING
 AS AN OPERATOR, OR AGENT OR AFFILIATE OF THE OPERATOR OF SUCH  ADDICTIVE
 FEATURE PLATFORM OR ANY PORTION THEREOF.
   [6.]  8.  "Infinite  scroll"  shall  mean when a feed or landing page,
 whether or not such feed is addictive as defined in subdivision  one  of
 this  section,  automatically  loads  and  displays  additional  [media]
 CONTENT at the bottom OR OTHER VISIBLE END of such feed or landing  page
 FROM  THE  PROSPECTIVE  OF THE USER without any manual input, OTHER THAN
 SCROLLING, from a [covered] user.
   [7. "Like counts" shall mean the quantification and public display  of
 positive  votes,  such as but not limited to those expressed via a heart
 or thumbs-up icon, attached to a piece of media generated by  a  covered
 user.
   8.  "Media"  shall  mean  as  defined  in  subdivision five of section
 fifteen hundred of this chapter.
   9. "Push notification" shall mean an alert generated by  an  addictive
 social  media  platform  for a covered user when such platform is not in
 use, but shall not include:
   (a) notifications that have been expressly and unambiguously requested
 by a covered user;
   (b) notifications related to user health or safety, including informa-
 tion related to data security or threats;
   (c) notifications which serve a public purpose;
   (d) notifications related to  a  user-selected  setting  or  technical
 information concerning a user's device;
 A. 9446                             4

   (e)  notifications  required  to  comply with state, federal, or local
 laws or regulations;
   (f) notifications required to operate the addictive social media plat-
 form; or
   (g)  notifications  otherwise found by the attorney general to serve a
 valid purpose unrelated to prolonging use of such platform.] 9.  "SOCIAL
 MEDIA  PLATFORM"  SHALL  HAVE  THE  SAME  MEANING AS SUBDIVISION FIVE OF
 SECTION ELEVEN HUNDRED OF THIS CHAPTER.
   § 1521. Requirement for warning labels. It shall  be  unlawful  for  a
 covered  operator  to  provide  an  addictive  [feed, autoplay, infinite
 scroll, like counts, and/or push notifications]  FEATURE  to  a  covered
 user  unless such operator displays a warning label [each time that such
 user accesses  such  operator's  addictive  social  media  platform]  IN
 ACCORDANCE  WITH SECTION FIFTEEN HUNDRED TWENTY-TWO OF THIS ARTICLE WHEN
 SUCH USER ACCESSES OR USES SUCH OPERATOR'S ADDICTIVE FEATURE. Such warn-
 ing label shall [contain no text  other  than  that  prescribed  by  the
 commissioner  of  mental health and shall appear on such platform in the
 manner prescribed by such commissioner, in accordance with the provision
 of section 7.48 of the mental hygiene law and any regulations promulgat-
 ed thereto.] CONTAIN THE FOLLOWING TEXT:
   "THE SURGEON GENERAL HAS WARNED THAT WHILE SOCIAL MEDIA MAY HAVE BENE-
 FITS FOR SOME YOUNG USERS, EXCESSIVE USE MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH  SIGNIF-
 ICANT MENTAL HEALTH HARMS."
   §  1522.  [Design  and time] DISPLAY REQUIREMENTS AND restrictions. 1.
 FOR EACH CALENDAR DAY IN WHICH A  COVERED  USER  ACCESSES  AN  ADDICTIVE
 FEATURE PLATFORM PROVIDING AN ADDICTIVE FEATURE TO THE COVERED USER, THE
 COVERED  OPERATOR  SHALL  DISPLAY THE WARNING LABEL DESCRIBED IN SECTION
 FIFTEEN HUNDRED TWENTY-ONE OF THIS ARTICLE TO THE COVERED USER WHEN SUCH
 USER INITIALLY  ACCESSES  THE  PLATFORM  AND  AN  ADDICTIVE  FEATURE  IS
 PROVIDED.  THE  WARNING  LABEL SHALL BE DISPLAYED CLEARLY, CONSPICUOUSLY
 AND CONTINUOUSLY FOR AT LEAST TEN SECONDS, WITHOUT PROVIDING THE ABILITY
 TO BYPASS OR CLICK THROUGH THE WARNING.  SUCH  WARNING  LABEL  SHALL  BE
 DISPLAYED  IN A MANNER THAT OCCUPIES AT LEAST TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT OF THE
 SCREEN OR WINDOW THAT THE COVERED USER IS USING TO ACCESS THE  ADDICTIVE
 FEATURE PLATFORM.
   2.  FOR  EACH  CALENDAR  DAY IN WHICH A COVERED USER USES AN ADDICTIVE
 FEATURE PLATFORM THAT PROVIDES AN ADDICTIVE FEATURE TO THE COVERED USER,
 THE COVERED OPERATOR  SHALL  DISPLAY  THE  WARNING  LABEL  DESCRIBED  IN
 SECTION  FIFTEEN  HUNDRED TWENTY-ONE OF THIS ARTICLE TO THE COVERED USER
 AFTER THREE HOURS OF CUMULATIVE ACTIVE USE AND THEREAFTER AT LEAST  ONCE
 PER  HOUR OF CUMULATIVE ACTIVE USE. THE WARNING LABEL SHALL BE DISPLAYED
 CLEARLY, CONSPICUOUSLY AND CONTINUOUSLY FOR A DURATION OF AT LEAST THIR-
 TY SECONDS, WITHOUT PROVIDING THE ABILITY TO BYPASS OR CLICK THROUGH THE
 WARNING, IN A MANNER THAT OCCUPIES AT LEAST SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT OF  THE
 SCREEN  THE  COVERED USER IS USING TO ACCESS THE ADDICTIVE FEATURE PLAT-
 FORM.
   3. A covered operator shall be prohibited from:
   [1.] (A) Including a warning label exclusively in the terms of service
 of an addictive [social media] FEATURE platform;
   [2.] (B) Obscuring the visibility or prominence of a  warning  label[,
 including via the inclusion of any extraneous text not prescribed by the
 commissioner  of mental hygiene under section 7.48 of the mental hygiene
 law or via changes in font size;
   3. Displaying a warning label at a point in a covered  user's  use  of
 such  platform  and/or  for a duration other than that prescribed by the
 A. 9446                             5

 commissioner of mental hygiene under section 7.48 of the mental  hygiene
 law]; and
   [4.]  (C) Deploying any other design feature or mechanism which inten-
 tionally serves to inhibit or subvert the purpose of this article.
   § 1523. Nondiscrimination. A  covered  operator  shall  not  withhold,
 degrade,  lower  the  quality,  or  increase  the  price of any product,
 service, or feature, other than as necessary  for  compliance  with  the
 provisions  of  this  article  or  any  rules or regulations promulgated
 pursuant to this article, to a covered user due to  the  covered  opera-
 tor's  display  of  a  warning  label  under  [section] SECTIONS fifteen
 hundred twenty-one AND FIFTEEN HUNDRED TWENTY-TWO of this article.
   § 1524. Rulemaking authority. The attorney general [shall] IS  AUTHOR-
 IZED TO promulgate such rules and regulations as are necessary to effec-
 tuate and enforce the provisions of this article.
   §  1525.  Scope. 1. This article shall apply to conduct that occurs in
 whole or in part in New York. For the purposes of this article,  conduct
 takes  place  wholly  outside  of  New  York  if the [covered] ADDICTIVE
 FEATURE platform is accessed by a user who is physically located outside
 of New York.
   2. Nothing in this article shall be construed to impose liability  for
 commercial  activities  or  actions by operators subject to 15 U.S.C.  §
 6501 that is inconsistent with  the  treatment  of  such  activities  or
 actions under 15 U.S.C. § 6502.
   3.  NOTHING IN THIS ARTICLE SHALL BE CONSTRUED OR INTERPRETED TO OVER-
 RIDE, SUPPLANT OR CONFLICT WITH ANY OF THE PROVISIONS OF  THE  SAFE  FOR
 KIDS  ACT CONTAINED IN ARTICLE FORTY-FIVE OF THIS CHAPTER OR ITS RELATED
 REGULATIONS.
   4. THE PROVISION OF THE WARNING LABEL REQUIRED BY  THIS  ARTICLE  DOES
 NOT  WAIVE,  RELEASE,  OTHERWISE  LIMIT,  OR  SERVE AS A DEFENSE TO, ANY
 CLAIM, INCLUDING CLAIMS PREMISED ON FAILURE TO WARN, OTHER THAN A  CLAIM
 PREMISED ON A VIOLATION OF THIS ARTICLE.
   5.  A  COVERED  OPERATOR  SHALL NOT BE REQUIRED TO DISPLAY THE WARNING
 LABEL REQUIRED BY THIS ARTICLE TO A COVERED USER IF  IT  HAS  REASONABLY
 DETERMINED THAT THE USER IS OVER SEVENTEEN YEARS OF AGE.
   §  1526.  Remedies.  1.  Whenever  it appears to the attorney general,
 either upon complaint or otherwise, that any person, within  or  outside
 the  state,  has  engaged in or is about to engage in any of the acts or
 practices stated to be unlawful in this article,  the  attorney  general
 may  bring  an action or special proceeding in the name and on behalf of
 the people of the state of New York to  enjoin  any  violation  of  this
 article,  to  obtain  restitution  of  any  moneys  or property obtained
 directly or indirectly by any such violation, to obtain disgorgement  of
 any  profits  or  gains  obtained  directly  or  indirectly  by any such
 violation, to obtain damages caused directly or indirectly by  any  such
 violation,  to obtain civil penalties of up to five thousand dollars per
 violation, and to obtain any such other and further relief as the  court
 may deem proper, including preliminary relief.
   2.   The   attorney  general  shall  maintain  a  website  to  receive
 complaints,  information,  or  referrals  from  members  of  the  public
 concerning  a  covered  operator's  or  addictive [social media] FEATURE
 platform's alleged compliance or noncompliance with  the  provisions  of
 this article.
   §  3. Section 7.48 of the mental hygiene law, as added by a chapter of
 the laws of 2025 amending  the  general  business  law  and  the  mental
 hygiene  law  relating  to  requiring warning labels on addictive social
 A. 9446                             6
 
 media platforms, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 4505 and A.
 5346, is REPEALED.
   § 4. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi-
 sion,  section  or  part  of  this act shall be adjudged by any court of
 competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment  shall  not  affect,
 impair,  or  invalidate  the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in
 its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph,  subdivision,  section
 or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg-
 ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of
 the  legislature  that  this  act  would  have been enacted even if such
 invalid provisions had not been included herein.
   § 5. Section 5 of a chapter of the laws of 2025 amending  the  general
 business  law  and  the mental hygiene law relating to requiring warning
 labels on addictive social media platforms, as proposed  in  legislative
 bills numbers S. 4505 and A. 5346, is amended to read as follows:
   §  5.  This  act  shall  take effect [on the one hundred eightieth day
 after the office of the attorney  general  shall  promulgate  rules  and
 regulations necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act; provided
 that  the  office  of  the attorney general shall notify the legislative
 bill drafting commission upon the occurrence of  the  enactment  of  the
 rules and regulations necessary to effectuate and enforce the provisions
 of  section  three of this act in order that the commission may maintain
 an accurate and timely effective data base of the official text  of  the
 laws  of  the  state  of  New  York  in  furtherance of effectuating the
 provisions of section 44 of the legislative law and section 70-b of  the
 public  officers law] JANUARY 1, 2027.  Effective immediately, the addi-
 tion, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or  regulation  necessary  for
 the  implementation  of this act on its effective date are authorized to
 be made and completed on or before such effective date.
   § 6. This act shall take effect immediately and sections one  and  two
 of this act shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner as
 a  chapter of the laws of 2025 amending the general business law and the
 mental hygiene law relating to requiring  warning  labels  on  addictive
 social media platforms, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 4505
 and A. 5346, takes effect.