New York's minor feed law waits on the Attorney General's rules

The test

New York's Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act was signed by Governor Kathy Hochul on 20 June 2024, entering the state's law books as Chapter 120. The New York State Senate's own bill record states the Act prohibits social media platforms from providing an 'addictive feed,' its own defined term for algorithmically recommended content, to a user under 18 without parental consent, and separately requires consent before sending notifications between midnight and 6am. The companion New York State Assembly's bill text confirms the same chapter number and signing date and carries the enacted statutory language.

What the evidence says

The bill text, as the state's own legislative record publishes it, gives platforms a non-addictive-feed alternative to offer instead of an outright bar: they may withhold the addictive-feed product from a minor who has not obtained parental consent, rather than being required to serve that minor no product at all. The Senate's own bill justification states the rationale in policy terms, citing sleep disruption and feed-driven use patterns, and confirms the Act authorizes enforcement by the Attorney General and, separately, private civil actions with damages. That is the legislature's own justification memo, not an independent study the two chambers commissioned.

The sample and the variance

The Act's own effective-date clause is the detail most likely to be overlooked: the statute takes effect 180 days after the effectiveness of rules and regulations the Attorney General's office must first promulgate, not 180 days after the June 2024 signing itself. That means the operative compliance date is contingent on a rulemaking step this legislative record does not itself complete or date. The Act's scope is New York users specifically; the bill text states no obligation for platforms' users in other states.

What to try next

A platform or marketing team serving New York minors should track the Attorney General's rulemaking docket for the SAFE for Kids Act specifically, since the enforceable compliance date is set by that rulemaking rather than by the statute's signing date. This is an editorial monitoring suggestion; the bill text itself does not name a rulemaking completion date.

• Has the New York Attorney General's office published the implementing rules and regulations referenced in the Act's effective-date clause?
• Once published, what compliance date do those rules set, and does it match the 180-day clause in the statute?
• Has any private civil action been filed under the Act's private right of action, and what remedy did it seek?

A signed law with a rulemaking-contingent effective date is enacted but not yet fully operative; the state's own legislative record is clear that the countdown has not started until the rules exist.