As part of her state-of-the-state proposals, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced legislation to help protect children from online predators, scammers and harmful AI chatbots that are integrated into online platforms.
Additionally, Hochul is proposing a first-of-its-kind, statewide expansion of Teen Mental Health First Aid Training, designed to give young people the tools to identify, understand and effectively respond to signs of mental health and substance abuse challenges among their friends and peers.
“These proposals will create a nation-leading standards that will ensure our kids’ safety in online and real work environments,” Hochul said in a Jan. 5 release.
The legislative package to protect kids on online platforms includes expanding requirements for platforms to conduct age verification, including online game platforms; making kids’ accounts be set to the highest privacy settings on platforms by default, meaning that non-connections cannot message kids, view their profile or tag them in content; disabling AI chatbot features on social media platforms for kids; and expanding parental controls, meaning that parents must be able to set limits on children’s financial transactions.
The legislative package is sponsored by State Sen. Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Nilly Rozic.
Common Sense Media founder James Steyer commended the state’s actions.
“The online games kids play and the social media platforms they use for hours and hours a day become veritable hunting groups for predators,” he said. “Kids and teens need these new protections now more than ever.”
Julie Scelfo, founder of Mothers Against Media Addiction, called the legislative proposals “common-sense.”
“The parents of the MAMA movement are grateful for the governor’s continued national leadership on this issue, and we look forward to working with her and with the state legislature to enact policies that protect our kids,” she said.
The Teen Mental Health First Aid training is being proposed to be available to all 10th-graders in New York, making it available to more than 180,000 students annually.
The training is designed for young people between the ages of 15 and 18 so they can identify, understand and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges in their friends and peers. It will equip them with skills to recognize common signs and symptoms of mental health and substance use challenges; the impact of bullying and school violence on mental health; how to have impactful conversations with classmates about mental health concerns or to seek help from an adult; formal and informal support, and self-care.
“In our discussions with young people about mental health issues, one consistent thread became clear — youth reach out to their peers when they are in distress,” New York State Office of Mental Health Commissioner Dr. Ann Sullivan said. “Teen Mental Health First Aid helps young New Yorkers talk with their classmates and friends about mental health issues and provides them with the know-how to get them help when it is needed.”
