New York S 4609: Establishes the "stop online predators act"

Bill Text

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S04609 Summary:

BILL NOS04609A

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SAME ASSAME AS A06549-A

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SPONSORGOUNARDES

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COSPNSRCLEARE, COMRIE, FERNANDEZ, GALLIVAN, HARCKHAM, JACKSON, RAMOS, SALAZAR, SCARCELLA-SPANTON, SKOUFIS

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MLTSPNSR

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Ren Art 45-A to be Art 45-B, add Art 45-A §§1509 - 1517, Gen Bus L

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Establishes the "stop online predators act"; requires operators of covered platforms to conduct age verification to determine whether a user is a covered minor; requires operators of covered platforms to utilize certain default privacy settings for covered minors; requires operators of covered platforms to require parental approval of certain activity related to a covered minor's covered platform account.

Go to top S04609 Actions:

BILL NOS04609A

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02/10/2025REFERRED TO INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY

01/07/2026REFERRED TO INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY

01/09/2026AMEND (T) AND RECOMMIT TO INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY

01/09/2026PRINT NUMBER 4609A

04/01/2026REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE

Go to topS04609 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topS04609 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topS04609 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 4609--A

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN SENATE

 February 10, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by Sens. GOUNARDES, COMRIE, FERNANDEZ, JACKSON, RAMOS, SALA-
 ZAR -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be commit-
 ted to the Committee on Internet and Technology -- recommitted to the
 Committee on Internet and Technology in accordance with Senate Rule 6,
 sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
 amended and recommitted to said committee

 AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to establishing
 the stop online predators act

 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
 bly, do enact as follows:

 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
 2 the "stop online predators act".
 3 § 2. Article 45-A of the general business law is renumbered article
 4 45-B and a new article 45-A is added to read as follows:
 5 ARTICLE 45-A
 6 STOP ONLINE PREDATORS ACT
 7 Section 1509. Definitions.
 8 1510. Privacy by default.
 9 1511. Parental approvals.
 10 1512. Construction of article.
 11 1513. Prohibition on dark patterns.
 12 1514. Nondiscrimination.
 13 1515. Scope.
 14 1516. Rulemaking authority.
 15 1517. Remedies.
 16 § 1509. Definitions. For the purposes of this article, the following
 17 terms shall have the following meanings:
 18 1. "Adult" shall mean a natural person who is eighteen years of age or
 19 older.
 20 2. "Connected" and variations thereof shall mean that a covered minor
 21 and/or such covered minor's parent has previously approved a connection

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD07773-05-6

 S. 4609--A 2

 1 with another user such that such other user may privately contact the
 2 covered minor; provided, however, that nothing in this subdivision shall
 3 prevent a covered platform from allowing such other user to send a
 4 private communication to accompany such other user's initial request for
 5 connection with a covered minor.
 6 3. "Covered minor" shall mean any user who is determined by an opera-
 7 tor, via one or more commercially reasonable age verification methods,
 8 to be under the age of eighteen.
 9 4. "Covered platform" shall mean a public or semi-public website,
 10 online service, online application, or mobile application that (a) is
 11 used by a covered minor in this state, (b) allows users to construct a
 12 public or semi-public profile for the purposes of using such website,
 13 service, or application, (c) allows users to create or post content that
 14 is viewable by other users, including but not limited to, on message
 15 boards, in chat rooms, or through a landing page or main feed that
 16 presents the user with content generated by other users, and (d) allows
 17 users to privately message each other as a significant part of the
 18 provision of such website, service, or application.
 19 5. "False negative" shall mean when an age verification method incor-
 20 rectly identifies an adult as a minor.
 21 6. "False positi