New York's SAFE for Kids Act

From 25 January 2027, social media platforms in New York must confirm a user is 18 or older, or get a parent's consent, before showing an algorithmic feed or sending notifications between midnight and 6 a.m.^{1, 2}

Checked 4 November 2026 against the sources.

What the law does

The act is Article 45 of the General Business Law, signed in June 2024. The Attorney General's rules, Part 700 of Title 13 NYCRR, released on 28 July 2026, set how platforms must check ages.^{1, 2} This page describes the law. It is not legal advice.

As of 4 November 2026.
Question	Answer
Who is covered	Platforms where users spend 20% or more of their time on feeds picked by an algorithm from user content. Platforms with fewer than 5 million monthly users, or fewer than 20,000 known minors, are exempt unless their main user base is minors.²
What needs a check	An algorithmic feed, and notifications from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. Without a check or consent, users see accounts they follow in a set order, such as chronological.^{1, 2}
What does not	Using the platform. A platform may not block a minor from its content, or from search, because there is no parental consent.¹
Parental consent	The minor must ask for the feature and agree to the parent being told. The parent must pass an age check, and either can withdraw consent at any time.¹
Penalty	The Attorney General can sue to stop violations and seek up to $5,000 per violation.¹
Starts	25 January 2027, 180 days after the rules were published in the State Register on 29 July 2026.^{1, 2}

How the age check must work

The rules accept age estimation, age inference or ID, but each method must be certified each year against accuracy limits.² How these methods work

The accuracy limits

The most minors a method may wrongly pass as adults: 0.1% of those aged 0 to 7, 1% at 8 to 13, 2% at 14 to 15, 8% at 16 and 15% at 17. It must also catch at least 98% of attempts to cheat it.²

Certification is by a third party accredited by ANSI or an equivalent body, to ISO/IEC 27566-1:2025, IEEE 2089.1 or an equivalent standard.²

Options other than ID

A platform that takes government ID must accept ID from any US or foreign jurisdiction, and must also offer at least one method that needs no ID.² Adults wrongly marked as minors can appeal, with at least one option other than ID, and get an answer or a request for more information within 10 business days.²

What a platform may keep

Data collected for the check must be the minimum needed, encrypted, used for nothing else, and deleted as soon as it has served its purpose.² What other laws let sites keep

Kept for 5 years

That a check was attempted, which method worked, the date, and the resulting status, minor or adult, plus monthly totals for each method.²

Kept only with consent

A user's estimated age, and then only to decide whether they are a minor or an adult.²

Questions people ask

Does New York have an age verification law?

For social media feeds, yes: the SAFE for Kids Act, from 25 January 2027. It requires age checks only for algorithmic feeds and overnight notifications, not to open an account.¹

Will adults in New York have to verify their age?

To get an algorithmic feed or overnight notifications on a covered platform, yes: the platform must determine that the user is an adult first.^{1, 2}

What does SAFE stand for?

Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation.¹

Sources 2

Attorney General James and Governor Hochul release final SAFE for Kids Act rules, 28 July 2026, New York Attorney General. Read 4 November 2026.
SAFE for Kids Act implementing rules, Part 700 of Title 13 NYCRR, New York Attorney General. Read 4 November 2026.

Every fact here comes from the rules and the Attorney General's notice, checked again and dated. How we check