Meta, Google leading nearly $1M lobbying fight to kill NY online child safety bills
NY Post
Google and Meta are spearheading a fierce push to kill New York legislation aimed at protecting children online — and the controversial lobbying battle is poised to surpass $1 million in spending, The Post has learned.
A group of Big Tech firms, advocacy groups and companies from other sectors have spent $823,235 lobbying Albany lawmakers through mid-March as two high-profile bills – the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act and the New York Child Data Protection Act – advance toward votes, according to recent public disclosures.
“This is an astonishing amount of money to be spent to kill two reasonable bills,” said one longtime Albany insider who requested anonymity to discuss the lobbying push.
The SAFE Act would crack down on addictive recommendation algorithms used by social media apps by requiring them to provide default chronological feeds for users 18 or younger unless they receive parental consent. It would also allow parents to impose time limits on social media use and in-app notifications.
The Child Data Protection Act would block apps from collecting or selling the personal or location data from users under 18 unless they consent. Kids under 13 would need a parent’s consent.
The disclosure forms show each firms’ total spending on legislation on the agenda in New York – including the online safety bills – and do not reveal their stances on specific bills.
