New York Bill Mandating Warning Labels on Social Media Signed into Law

A new bill signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul will require warning labels to be displayed on any social media platform that offers auto-play or infinite scrolling and other features. 

The new law was signed on Dec. 26 and will go into effect sometime in 2026. Under the new bill, platforms would be required to display an un skippable warning when a user initially uses one of the features cited in the law and periodically based on continued use. 

“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,” Governor Hochul said. “New Yorkers deserve transparency. With the amount of information that can be shared online, it is essential that we prioritize mental health and take the steps necessary to ensure that people are aware of any potential risks.” 

The new legislation comes after a 2023 advisory by the U.S. Surgeon General’s Office said that children and adolescents who use social media for more than three hours a day are more than twice as likely to develop mental health symptoms than those who don’t. This was notable as the Surgeon General’s Office placed the average social media usage of those aged 13-17 at 3.5 hours a day. 

The legislation cited this advisory and subsequent calls by the Surgeon General’s Office to implement warning labels as the primary motivator behind the bill. While the law is designed to target younger users, it doesn’t specifically require that the warning exclusively target them. 

In addition to infinite scrolling and autoplay, the law also targets features such as like counts or push notifications not explicitly requested by the user. The text and scope of the warning was not written into the legislation and will be determined later by the Commissioner of Mental Health in coordination with the Commissioners of Health and Education. 

Platforms who violate the law will be subject to a maximum of $5000 or further relief, depending on what the court decides. 

New York isn’t the first jurisdiction to target social media platforms. In Oct. 2025, New York City filed a lawsuit in Federal Court against several social media platforms, accusing them of encouraging addiction through their algorithms and engaging in practices akin to gambling through features such as likes and dislikes. 

Three other states — California, Colorado and Minnesota — enacted similar legislation this year while outside the US, Australia outright banned social media for anyone under 16. 

It’s unclear what legal hurtles the New York law run into. Soon after Colorado passed it’s law requiring platforms to tell users about the dangers of social media, a lawsuit was filed by industry group NetChoice. 

As a result, their law was struck down by a federal judge in a preliminary injunction. It has since been appealed. 

“The Court fully appreciates Colorado’s legitimate effort to protect the children and adolescents of our state from the impacts of social media use on their health and wellbeing,” Judge William J. Martínez wrote in his ruling. “The Court concludes, however, that it is substantially likely NetChoice will succeed on the merits of its claims that Colorado may not pursue this laudable goal by compelling social media companies to speak its expressive messages.”