Legislation

* § 7.48. Addictive social media platform warning labels.

(a) The commissioner shall, in consultation with the commissioner of
health and the commissioner of education, design the text for the
warning label for addictive social media platforms prescribed in article
forty-five-A of the general business law. The text for such warning
label shall be based upon a review of medical and sociological research,
including from government publications and peer-reviewed scholarly
articles, that is available at the time of the initial design of such
label. The commissioners shall consider findings related to the impact
of addictive social media platforms on the social, emotional, and
physical health of users, including any particularized findings for
users under the age of eighteen. The commissioners shall review any
correlations between prolonged use of addictive social media platforms
and anxiety, depression, body dysmorphia, low self-esteem, disruptions
in sleep patterns, educational outcomes, changes in cognitive
development, analytical skills, contextual thinking, attention span,
memory formation, and any other physical or behavioral patterns unveiled
by such available research.

(b) The commissioner shall be empowered to update the text of such
warning label on an annual basis to reflect any changing developments in
the state of available research described in subdivision (a) of this
section. The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations to
establish the process by which the office shall effectuate such annual
update.

(c) The commissioner shall further prescribe, via rules and
regulations, at what point during a covered user's use of an addictive
social media platform the warning label described herein shall appear on
such platform, the frequency with which such label shall appear during
such user's use, and the amount of time such label shall remain
prominently displayed on the platform, based on factors such as the
effectiveness of the warning label created by this section, the duration
of user time on an addictive social media platform that may be
associated with particular harms, including harms associated with
certain times of day, user response to such label, changes in user
behavior related to such label, or any other factor deemed relevant by
the commissioner. The commissioner shall be empowered to update the
regulations prescribed by this subdivision on an annual basis.

(d) The commissioner shall issue an annual report to the governor, the
attorney general, the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of
the assembly, the chairs of the senate and assembly education
committees, the chairs of the senate and assembly mental health
committees, the chair of the senate internet and technology committee,
and the chair of the assembly science and technology committee
summarizing: the efforts undertaken by the office to study the available
research described in this section; how such study informed the
regulations prescribing the design, temporal appearance, and duration of
the addictive social media platform warning label on an addictive social
media platform; any changes to the text of such labels compared to prior
years; and any recommended legislative changes to this section, article
forty-five-A of the general business law, and any successor provisions
thereof, including but not limited to statutory updates related to the
inclusion of additional design features deployed by covered operators,
as defined in subdivision four of section fifteen hundred twenty of the
general business law, which are designed to prolong use of an addictive
social media platform.

(e) Such report shall also be posted for public review in a clear and
conspicuous manner on the office's website.

* NB Effective on the 180th day after the office of the attorney
general shall promulgate rules and regulations necessary to effectuate
the provisions of this act (see chapter 689 of 2025 § 5)