// THE VERGE — MOBILE & WEB
New Yorkers will soon need to verify their age to access algorithmic feeds
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The SAFE for Kids Act takes effect January 25, 2027.
The SAFE for Kids Act takes effect January 25, 2027.
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New Yorkers who want to see their Instagram or TikTok feed curated by an algorithm, or receive notification after midnight, will soon have to verify their ages to access those features.
New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) released a set of final rules on how to implement the SAFE for Kids Act, signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul (D) in June 2024. The rules lay out in more detail what social media platforms subject to the law will need to do in order to comply, including standards for understanding users’ ages, and how to go about obtaining parental consent for kids to use walled-off features. The law will officially go into effect on January 25, 2027. After that point, failing to comply could cost platforms up to $5,000 per violation.
In order to provide access to algorithmic feeds, or notifications between 12 AM and 6 AM to adults, social media platforms that have user-generated content and users that spend at least 20 percent of their time on algorithmic feeds will need to confirm users’ ages through a method that meets certain accuracy thresholds. The rules don’t prescribe a method of checking ages, but lay out low false positive rates they need to meet, and the ability to detect attempts to circumvent age checks 98 percent of the time. Providing a government-issued ID is one way platforms could opt to check ages, but the rules also require them to give at least one other option. Information collected to check users’ ages must be immediately deleted or de-identified after it’s used.