BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Gov. Kathy Hawkle was in town Friday to speak to local high school students about the impact of social media on mental health.
“One of my students, not here but at another school, said to me, ‘We don’t know how to stop this system, so we have to save ourselves from ourselves,'” Hoekl said.
The governor has been holding roundtable discussions across New York state, and on Friday he sat down with a group of students at Williamsville East High School to tout two bills that Governor Hoffle has proposed to restrict social media sites.
The first, the New York State Children’s Data Protection Act, aims to prohibit online sites from collecting, using, sharing or selling personal data of anyone under the age of 18.
The Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation for Children Act (SAFE Act) would require social media companies to block anyone under the age of 18 from viewing algorithmically curated content. Instead, teens would be shown a chronological feed of the people they follow by default unless they have parental consent. Parents would also have the power to block access to social media platforms between the hours of 12am and 6am.
Lawmakers supporting the bill argue that the amount of time teenagers spend on these sites is damaging their mental health.
“I have to [disable] “I update and delete Instagram every now and then because sometimes it can be a burden for me,” said Anya Ramadan, a senior at Will East High School.
She was one of the participants in Friday’s roundtable discussion and said she has learned when to stay away from social media but understands that some of her peers may not.
“When things get tough, I stay off social media,” she says.
Gov. Hokell said he will take what he heard today back to Albany and expects lawmakers to pass these bills before the Legislature goes on recess.
Marley Tasks is an award-winning anchor and reporter who has been part of the News 4 team since 2019. Learn more about her work here. Follow her on Twitter.
