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Social Networks United States

New York To Require Social Media Platforms To Display Mental Health Warnings (reuters.com) 37

Social media platforms with infinite scrolling, auto-play and algorithmic feeds will be required to display warning labels about their potential harm to young users' mental health under a new law, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Friday. From a report: "Keeping New Yorkers safe has been my top priority since taking office, and that includes protecting our kids from the potential harms of social media features that encourage excessive use," Hochul said in a statement.

This month Australia imposed a social media ban for children under 16. New York joins states like California and Minnesota that have similar social media laws. The New York law includes platforms that offer "addictive feeds," auto play or infinite scroll, according to the legislation. The law applies to conduct occurring partly or wholly in New York but not when the platform is accessed by users physically outside the state.

New York To Require Social Media Platforms To Display Mental Health Warnings

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  • by SlashbotAgent ( 6477336 ) on Friday December 26, 2025 @06:10PM (#65883517)

    Slashdot: Autistic and straight up retarded.

    Facebook: Dementia and Alzheimers

    X.com: WTF?

    Reddit: Foreign agent mind control.

  • algorithmic feeds

    We need to find, capture, try, execute, and then piss on the grave of whoever decided that the word "algorithm" was the best word for what they didn't like about Facebook. Their hasty decision, combined the word's apparent mainstream sexiness (who knew?!) is going to result in the word's loss.

    • Outside of the adjectival form "algorithmic complexity," often interchangeable with "computational complexity," I can't say I used the word at all in a technical sense.

      It may have been used liberally in my 8th grade algebra class or my 9th grade geometry class, but I don't really remember at this point.

    • What ?! I thought "algorithmic" was good for the nerd brand.
      But I doubt that deters anyone from using some app. Business will probably double or make work for consultants. Also doesn't prohibition, all that mystery that the native mind sees, doesn't that really reinforce the brand? Camel cigarette, anyone?
  • by PPH ( 736903 ) on Friday December 26, 2025 @06:42PM (#65883551)

    ... social media platforms will display mental health warnings attached to New York sites.

  • by dskoll ( 99328 ) on Friday December 26, 2025 @07:05PM (#65883593) Homepage

    We have warning labels on cigarettes and those are pretty uncontroversial.

    It's also uncontroversial that social media platforms know that their platforms are harmful. [reuters.com]

    While I would prefer an outright ban on platforms using known-harmful practices, I'm OK with warnings.

  • Social media is a medium. It isn't the problem.

    Alcohol, nicotine, and THC are chemicals. They aren't the problem.

    Porn, gore, and gangsta rap are just scripted content. They are not the problem.

    The problem is, and always been, between the ears of people who cannot make themselves moderate their intake.

    I posit that it is absolutely incoherent worldview that wants warning labels and bans on social media, but tolerates and celebrates sex, drugs, rock-and-roll, state-sactioned gambling and outright state-run gam

    • by dskoll ( 99328 ) on Friday December 26, 2025 @07:38PM (#65883643) Homepage

      There have been aggressive anti-smoking campaigns and smoking rates in countries that have these campaigns have dropped significantly. For example, in Canada, smoking rates dropped from 50% in 1965 to 10% in 2020 [uwaterloo.ca], a significant savings to our healthcare system.

      So yeah, while warning labels etc. obviously don't work for everyone, they work for some people and can reduce the scale of a problem.

      As for your other points: There's nothing wrong with sex if it's done safely, and that's why countries with proper sex ed to promote safe sex have lower teenage pregnancy rates and STDs than countries that lack it.

      Drugs should (and mostly do, if they're legal) come with warnings; rock-n-roll is not dangerous, and gambling in addictive formats (eg, slot machines) should come with warnings.

      • There have been aggressive anti-smoking campaigns and smoking rates in countries that have these campaigns have dropped significantly. For example, in Canada, smoking rates dropped from 50% in 1965 to 10% in 2020 [uwaterloo.ca], a significant savings to our healthcare system.

        Speaking of teenagers, can you tell me how many of those vaping addicts didn’t get counted as “smokers” in that massive savings effort that didn’t help efficiency at all? Just curious.

        • by dskoll ( 99328 )

          Vaping is a problem and of course, if you have rules, bad actors will find loopholes.

          However, vaping doesn't change the statistics much. As of 2022, only 6% [canada.ca] of Canadians aged 15 and up have vaped in the last 30 days, though the numbers are higher for youth than adults.

          So it's important to regulate vaping products and conduct the same vaping-control campaigns that were so successful against smoking.

          • As of 2022, only 6% [canada.ca] of Canadians aged 15 and up have vaped in the last 30 days, though the numbers are higher for youth than adults.

            15 and up you say?

            Including 80-year olds in the vaping statistics, is like counting 80-year olds when talking about pregnancy and birth rates. Now tell me how many Canadians ages 15 - 25 are vaping. The problem becomes far more obvious then.

    • ... celebrates sex ...

      Which country does this? How does one know it celebrates sex: Is there a state orgy day? Outside Mills & Boon stories or romance-fantasy chick literature, Western culture barely promotes the world-view that sexual intimacy is a normal weekly activity. Once upon a time, most Hollywood movies had a lonely woman sub-story (usually ending with her fucking the male lead) but that trope disappeared 10 years ago. Plus, the Sydney (AUS) Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras is gone.

      Now, the erect penis festival in

  • Alas, they've already abused that for gun confiscation laws. Shame, it would have matched requiring cars to follow a man waving a flag.

  • by Tom ( 822 ) on Saturday December 27, 2025 @03:08AM (#65884083) Homepage Journal

    After the mind-blowing success of the windows "are you sure you want to move the mouse?" confirmation dialogs, these people really thought that warning messages do anything? Who is advising these people? Why are they getting paid? Or was their actual contract to provide something with minimal effort that they can use to claim "we're doing something! pinky swear!" ?

  • Everything not forbidden is compulsory.

On a clear disk you can seek forever. -- P. Denning

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