N.Y.
Mental Hygiene Law Section 7.48
Addictive social media platform warning labels
(a)
The commissioner shall, in consultation with the commissioner of health and the commissioner of education, design the text for the warning label for addictive social media platforms prescribed in article forty-five-A of the general business law. The text for such warning label shall be based upon a review of medical and sociological research, including from government publications and peer-reviewed scholarly articles, that is available at the time of the initial design of such label. The commissioners shall consider findings related to the impact of addictive social media platforms on the social, emotional, and physical health of users, including any particularized findings for users under the age of eighteen. The commissioners shall review any correlations between prolonged use of addictive social media platforms and anxiety, depression, body dysmorphia, low self-esteem, disruptions in sleep patterns, educational outcomes, changes in cognitive development, analytical skills, contextual thinking, attention span, memory formation, and any other physical or behavioral patterns unveiled by such available research.(b)
The commissioner shall be empowered to update the text of such warning label on an annual basis to reflect any changing developments in the state of available research described in subdivision (a) of this section. The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations to establish the process by which the office shall effectuate such annual update.(c)
The commissioner shall further prescribe, via rules and regulations, at what point during a covered user’s use of an addictive social media platform the warning label described herein shall appear on such platform, the frequency with which such label shall appear during such user’s use, and the amount of time such label shall remain prominently displayed on the platform, based on factors such as the effectiveness of the warning label created by this section, the duration of user time on an addictive social media platform that may be associated with particular harms, including harms associated with certain times of day, user response to such label, changes in user behavior related to such label, or any other factor deemed relevant by the commissioner. The commissioner shall be empowered to update the regulations prescribed by this subdivision on an annual basis.(d)
The commissioner shall issue an annual report to the governor, the attorney general, the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the chairs of the senate and assembly education committees, the chairs of the senate and assembly mental health committees, the chair of the senate internet and technology committee, and the chair of the assembly science and technology committee summarizing: the efforts undertaken by the office to study the available research described in this section; how such study informed the regulations prescribing the design, temporal appearance, and duration of the addictive social media platform warning label on an addictive social media platform; any changes to the text of such labels compared to prior years; and any recommended legislative changes to this section, article forty-five-A of the general business law, and any successor provisions thereof, including but not limited to statutory updates related to the inclusion of additional design features deployed by covered operators, as defined in subdivision four of General Business Law § 1520 (Definitions)section fifteen hundred twenty of the general business law, which are designed to prolong use of an addictive social media platform.(e)
Such report shall also be posted for public review in a clear and conspicuous manner on the office’s website. * 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 7.48 — Addictive social media platform warning labels, https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/MHY/7.48 (updated Dec. 26, 2025; accessed Jan. 3, 2026).
