John,

Every generation faces defining challenges, and young New Yorkers today are being fed addictive social media content that has left them facing an epidemic of despair.

Social media was meant to connect us to friends, in a way that brought us closer to one another. Instead, platforms have become media machines — collecting data on users and curating toxic algorithmic feeds designed to keep people scrolling as long as possible. 

That’s why I’m pushing to pass nation-leading legislation to take on these addictive feeds and protect our kids online before the legislative session ends next week.

For me, this fight is deeply personal.

In a few years, my granddaughter Sofia will join the millions of children online. Like most kids born in the 21st century, the digital age is all she will know.

We owe it to her generation to put guardrails in place to protect their mental health, just as previous generations did with the pressing issues of their time.

Last fall, I unveiled two nation-leading pieces of legislation to protect kids from personal data collection and addictive feeds, in partnership with state legislators and the attorney general:

1. The Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act will require social-media companies to restrict the addictive features on their platforms that most harm young users.
    
2. The New York Child Data Protection Act will restrict online sites from collecting, using or selling personal data of anyone under the age of 18 without consent.

Hearing countless stories from young people, mental-health professionals and educators across the state have reinforced my commitment to getting this done.

Earlier this month, I had the privilege of speaking with Mekka, a high-school student from Schenectady County, about the importance of enacting these reforms.

>> Watch her remarks here >> 

With only a week left in the 2024 legislative session, getting these two bills passed in Albany is my top priority.

We stopped marketing tobacco to kids. We raised the drinking age. And today, we’re fighting to protect kids from the defining problem of our time.

But this legislation is not just about preventing the worst. It is a recognition that young New Yorkers today have more opportunities to succeed than ever before. 

>> Watch my interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe discussing our efforts to pass this legislation >>

We have an opportunity to set an example for generations to come, and we won’t back down from this fight — our kids deserve nothing less.

Ever Upward,

Gov. Kathy Hochul