SAFE for Kids Act
New York SAFE for Kids Act
Limits addictive algorithmic feeds and overnight notifications for minors without parental consent.
The law in brief
New York's SAFE for Kids Act (Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation) restricts social media platforms from showing algorithmically personalized feeds to users under 18, and from sending them notifications overnight, unless a parent consents. The Attorney General's rules set the standards for determining a user's age and for obtaining parental consent.
The law was signed in June 2024 but could not take effect until the rules were final. The final rules were released on 28 July 2026, and the law takes effect on 25 January 2027.
Who it applies to
- Addictive social media platforms that offer an addictive feed as a significant portion of their service. The rules treat that as platforms where users spend 20% or more of their time on the addictive feed, measured over a six-month period.
- An addictive feed selects and orders user-generated content based on information about the user or their device, rather than, for example, chronological order or the user's explicit choices.
- Minors are users under 18, or users the platform has not determined to be adults.
What it requires
No addictive feed for minors without consent
Do not provide an addictive feed to a user unless you have used commercially reasonable methods to determine the user is not a minor, or have verifiable parental consent.
No overnight notifications
Do not send notifications about addictive feeds to minors between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. Eastern time without verifiable parental consent.
Age assurance to the rules' standards
Determine age with methods that meet the Attorney General's standards, and certify each method annually after testing, keeping reports for at least ten years.
No penalty for refusing
Do not withhold or degrade the platform for a minor because they or a parent did not consent to an addictive feed.
People's rights
Parents can give or withdraw consent for their child to receive an addictive feed or overnight notifications. Minors must still be able to use the platform with a non-personalized feed.
Enforcement and penalties
The Attorney General can bring actions to stop violations and seek civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation.
What's changing
Takes effect 25 January 2027. Platforms have until then to put age assurance and parental consent in place. The rules also require age assurance methods to be tested and certified annually, with records kept for ten years.
What to do first
- Measure whether you meet the 20% threshold over a six-month period.
- Choose age assurance methods that meet the rules and plan their annual certification.
- Build parental consent that is verifiable and can be withdrawn.
- Offer a non-personalized feed to users not determined to be adults.
- Suppress notifications to minors between midnight and 6 a.m. Eastern time without consent.
- Keep the testing and certification records the rules require.
Checked against the official text on 28 September 2026. Quotations are the operative words of the law, linked to the article they come from; the official text is the authority. This brief is written by the Association for practitioners and is not legal advice.
Recent developments
Nothing reported yet. Regulatory Watch lists new rules, enforcement and court decisions as they arrive.
Sources
- SAFE for Kids Act rules (13 NYCRR Part 700) New York Attorney General · Official text or regulator