N.Y.
General Business Law Section 1520
Definitions
1.
“Addictive feed” shall mean as defined in subdivision one of § 1500 (Definitions)section fifteen hundred of this chapter.2.
“Addictive social media platform” shall mean a website, online service, online application, or mobile application that primarily serves as a medium for covered users to interact with media generated by other users and which offers or provides covered users an addictive feed, push notifications, autoplay, infinite scroll, and/or like counts as a significant part of the services provided by such website, online service, online application, or mobile application. “Addictive social media platform” shall not include any such service or application which the attorney general determines offers the features described herein for a valid purpose unrelated to prolonging use of such platform.3.
“Autoplay” shall mean when a piece of media is automatically played without any manual input from a covered user.4.
“Covered operator” shall mean any person, business, or other legal entity who operates or provides an addictive social media platform.5.
“Covered user” shall mean a user of a website, online service, online application, or mobile application in New York, not acting as an operator, or agent or affiliate of the operator, of such website, online service, online application or mobile application or any portion thereof.6.
“Infinite scroll” shall mean when a feed or landing page, whether or not such feed is addictive as defined in subdivision one of this section, automatically loads and displays additional media at the bottom of such feed or landing page without any manual input from a covered user.7.
“Like counts” shall mean the quantification and public display of positive votes, such as but not limited to those expressed via a heart or thumbs-up icon, attached to a piece of media generated by a covered user.8.
“Media” shall mean as defined in subdivision five of § 1500 (Definitions)section fifteen hundred of this chapter.9.
“Push notification” shall mean an alert generated by an addictive social media platform for a covered user when such platform is not in use, but shall not include:(a)
notifications that have been expressly and unambiguously requested by a covered user;(b)
notifications related to user health or safety, including information related to data security or threats;(c)
notifications which serve a public purpose;(d)
notifications related to a user-selected setting or technical information concerning a user’s device;(e)
notifications required to comply with state, federal, or local laws or regulations;(f)
notifications required to operate the addictive social media platform; or(g)
notifications otherwise found by the attorney general to serve a valid purpose unrelated to prolonging use of such platform. * NB Effective on the 180th day after the office of the attorney general shall promulgate rules and regulations necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act (see chapter 689 of 2025 § 5)
Source:
Section 1520 — Definitions, https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/GBS/1520 (updated Dec. 26, 2025; accessed Jan. 3, 2026).
