Sen. Gounardes Talks About His Social Media Bills and Working Family Tax Credit on NY1

Originally published in NY1 on .
Senator Andrew Gounardes Talks About His Social Media Bills and Working Families Tax Credit on NY1

Advocates and lawmakers rallied Friday outside the Midtown offices of Meta to call for the passage of two bills that would help regulate social media companies.

They said it’s all an effort to protect youth mental health and keep kids safe online.

The two legislations would help put in place privacy protections for minors online and force social media companies to stop using addictive algorithmic feeds.

According to the U.S. Surgeon General, children and adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of mental health problems, including symptoms of anxiety and depression.

State Sen. Andrew Gounardes, whose Brooklyn district covers all or parts of Downtown Brooklyn, Carroll Gardens, Sunset Park and Bay Ridge, joined NY1 political reporter Bobby Cuza on "Inside City Hall" Friday to discuss the bills and more.

“What we’re trying to do is stop the use of these predictive algorithms that the technology companies are using, which actually are leading to a social media addiction,” he said, adding they want users under the age of 18 to look at content pages they choose to follow. 

Gounardes is the sponsor of both bills. 

Watch the full interview at NY1.