Earlier on June 20th, Governor Kathy Hochul signed nation-leading legislation to combat addictive social media feeds and protect kids online. Legislation S.07694A/A.08148A establishes the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) For Kids Act to require social media companies to restrict addictive feeds on their platforms for users under 18. Legislation S.07695B/A.08149A enables the New York Child Data Protection Act to prohibit online sites from collecting, using, sharing or selling personal data of anyone under the age of 18, unless they receive informed consent or unless doing so is strictly necessary for the purpose of the website.

VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format.

AUDIO of the Governor's remarks is available.

PHOTOS of the event will be available on the Governor's Flickr page.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Mike knows we love a good fight. Maybe it's the Irish in both of us.

Today, we save our children. We have heard their cries for help, reminding us as adults that we have a moral responsibility to protect young New Yorkers from harm and from addictive forces that are trying to transport them from happy-go-lucky kids into teenagers who are depressed — isolating themselves from human contact, and in some extreme cases, contemplating ending their own lives.

What happens here? What happened to these children? Let's talk about that. The damaging effect of social media's addictive algorithms, weaponized to use children's personal information, extracting millions of data points about their preferences — what they want to do, where they're going — they use all this to hold them captive to a barrage of unsolicited images and messages, and that must be stopped right now.

And that's why in this very room, on October 11th, many of you joined us, and I stood alongside America's greatest Attorney General, Letitia James, to team up in this effort.

A senator and assemblymember who would not take no for an answer — let's give a huge round of applause to Senator Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Nily Rozic.

And we made a commitment to a crowd full of worried, anxious parents and teachers who saw what was happening to these young people before their very eyes. We said we would take up this cause and that we would win and that's what we did here today. We stood with Mike Mulgrew, our host here today, the president of UFT and the leader of NYSUT, Melinda Person, because we needed them to bring people together — our teachers, work with our parents, also our advocacy groups. And we said we would get this done and then we would stop these forces.

And make sure that we could get the legislation done that would change the discourse around this. We are no longer helpless individuals who can say, “This is how it is. This is life in 2024.” I've never accepted the status quo. I'll always press on to find a better way. When it comes to protecting our kids, as New York's first mom Governor, this is where you hit me. I'll take on a fight for our kids any day of the week.

For years we've watched our kids spiral downward, wrestle with feelings of depression, anxiety, low self-esteem — how do they get out of that? And those feelings of isolation, sadness — oh, we know what the pandemic did to these kids. I have gathered so many teenagers across this State in community centers, youth centers, in classrooms, libraries — and when you ask them about the pandemic — totally different response than you get from adults.

Adults will say, “Yeah, we're okay now, we moved on, we're not wearing masks. We're good, right? We've adapted.” Because a significant percentage of our lives was not isolated from others. These are kids: a 4th grader, 6th grader, 8th grader, 10th grader — You keep them isolated for one to two years, that has a long-term effect on them.

But what were they doing during that time? We thought they might be studying remotely, learning from a virtual classroom — yeah, the teachers in the room were just laughing. The parents are saying, “No, that didn't happen” right? We lost that time. Well, how did they fill their hours? They had an escape, but it was not talking to other kids in person or talking to parents or playing outside.

They were taken to a place in their own bedrooms that grew darker and darker because it pulled them in to a place where they could not escape from. That's what the pandemic did to our kids. At the same time, the emergence of these algorithms actually started earlier, but we saw the full force of their power during this time.

So, as I said, we listen to our kids. We said we'd fight for solution. We talk about mental health a lot here in the State of New York. Nobody can match our billion-dollar investment in mental health, but that's not just for — yes, go ahead and clap for that because I want to thank —

But now to say we have to have mental health services in our classrooms and in our schools because this is the effect that children are going through — it's important, we'll do it, we're doing it now, but did you ever think that this would become a necessity when I'm talking to a grade school guidance counselor and they said 40 percent of their kids are depressed in grade school?

These kids aren't set up for success. How are they going to turn their lives around and be fulfilled, healthy adults when they're in that place as children? The most carefree time of their lives. I'll never forget the voice of one young girl. She was telling what it was like. Even when she was sitting there talking to the Governor of New York, she could not put her phone down. She could not put her phone down. I said, “I know what you're doing. My kids used to do this, too. Pay attention.” She said, “You've got to help us. We can't stop ourselves anymore.”

That wasn't her fault. She did not know that there was an intentional campaign by social media companies to devise algorithms to hold them like this. They knew something was wrong, and what I'll tell you is this: I didn't need anybody to tell me we're in a crisis. I saw it with my own eyes. So, we know they're powerful, they're dangerous things. But here's what we're doing about it. We're saying, “We can do something. We're not helpless. We're the adults. We can find solutions.” And that's what our Legislature is all about as well.

And I want to give a huge round of applause to our speaker, Carl Heastie, Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and all the members of their conference who withstood incredible pressure from out-of-state forces that tried to stop this dead in its tracks. Let's give them another round of applause. All of our legislators who are here. Thank you. Thank you.

So, what does the solution look like? Well, other states should start paying attention to New York. Even our Surgeon General called this out at the federal level. Anybody going to hold their breath waiting for a federal solution? Me either. It's a shame because the Surgeon General who's charged with the nation's health says that teens who use social media more than three hours a day face double the risk of depression and anxiety symptoms. Now my experience, the teenagers on social media three hours a day, that's a light day. Right? That's a light day. So, three, six, nine hours a day — these kids aren't getting sleep either, because they can't turn it off. I listen to our Surgeon General. Our Surgeon General thinks we should have warning labels on social media. Anybody else agree with our Surgeon General? I think so. I'm going to do that too.

Legislators, let's do that here in New York, right? We can do that. So, Congress needs to act. Let's get that out there. Congress can and should act. They can have a national standard, but until such time, we'll lead the nation in so many ways, like we've always done before. So, let's get this done. Let's get this done. We can protect our kids. We can tell the companies that, “You are not allowed to do this. You don't have a right to do this. That parents should have a say over their children's lives and their health, not you. Not you who are on a marketing quest to have people follow you for the rest of their lives.”

We can stop that right now, and let's get that done.

So that's what the Safe for Kids Act and the Child Data Protection Acts were all about in October, and we said, “We knew this would be a fight.” And we said, “Bring it on. Bring it on – our kids are worth fighting for.” Do you agree with that? Our kids are worth fighting for. We will not be daunted. We will not waver. And this is proof of what we can do together, legislators and our Attorney General, and the power of the parents’ organizations and unions like our teachers unions. Look at the power of what we accomplished here today. People never thought we'd see this day.

Back in October — “Oh, that's a nice idea. Nice idea, good luck with that one.” Did you ever think you'd see us here? First day of summer — Is it the first day of summer? Anybody feel like we've been in summer for a long time?

But we didn't cower to these interests. We didn't surrender. We didn't throw in the towel, because New Yorkers don't do that. When there's a fight worth fighting, you stay the course. You don't give up because there's too much on the line. And this formidable coalition that I'm with here today, I'm so proud of all of you. All of you stood up when our children needed you, and we'll stop at nothing to protect our children because it makes that big a difference.

So, I'm going to thank the coalitions as well. Common Sense Media. Let's give them a round of applause. Mothers Against Media Addiction. The Long Island Coalition Against Bullying. The National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Parent leaders like Kathleen Spence and Norma Nazario. Thank you, thank you, thank you — who know more than anyone the toll that social media addiction can take. And again, our Teachers Unions.

We're not done. They'll keep finding ways, there's too much profit on the line. Our kids will not be commoditized. We will not let them make money off our kids, our babies anymore. That is not happening here. So here we are, the first in the nation. First in the nation. I'm so proud of all of you. For what you're doing.

Every generation has its challenges when it comes to our children's health, right? Remember we had to stand up and keep cigarettes out of the hands of kids? Remember we had to stand up and say no alcohol in the hands of our kids? Regulating illegal cannabis, saying it can't be in the hands of our kids?

This is one more way. That we show when the forces of society start getting into our families’ homes — parents rise up and it's powerful. It's powerful when you have allies in the Legislature and elsewhere, there's no stopping us. We will save lives with this, my friends. People will not come back and thank us for this day — because they'll never know what we saved them from.

But in our hearts, we know that we've already lost too many kids, or kids that are spiraling for a long time now. And it's our job to pull them back. To let them know that their lives matter. That no matter how you feel about yourself because of all these influences — and even the bullying in schools, and people say bad things about you — you have value as a human being.

You're a New Yorker. That gives you something that nobody else in this country has, you have the strength to endure. So, I'm so proud to sign these bills. Let's bring it on ladies and gentlemen. Congratulations to everyone for getting it over the finish line. We did it.

She doesn't need an introduction in this room, but she's a great friend of mine. Our Attorney General Letitia James. Thank you.