Keeping Kids Safe Online

My New York Children's Online Safety Act protects children from abuse and harassment on gaming and social media sites

Children are spending more time than ever online. But Big Tech companies aren’t putting kids’ safety first.

Multiple disturbing investigations have found people using gaming and social media platforms to harm and abuse kids. In 2023 alone, Roblox, where over 40% of users are preteens, reported over 13,000 instances of child exploitation to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and responded to 1,300 requests for information from law enforcement. 

One study found researchers were unable to create a Roblox test account with the name “Jeffrey Epstein” because it, along with 900+ variations, was already taken. For years, Roblox’s open chat function has allowed users of any age to post and privately message other users. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation warned Roblox’s voice chat feature allows online predators to groom victims and called Roblox “a tool for sexual predators” and “a threat for children's safety.”

But this problem extends far beyond one platform. Online gaming and social media platforms—including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and X—have also become a major target for pedophiles. More than 300 million children worldwide are victims of some type of online sexual exploitation or abuse, and reports of child sexual abuse material reached a record high last year.

My New York Children's Online Safety Act would protect kids by requiring online gaming and social media platforms to turn off open chat functions by default for users under 18, unless a parent switches them back on. Children’s profiles will be set to private by default, so strangers can’t view them without a friend request, and adult users would only be able to message child users if their friend request has been accepted which, for users under 13, would require parental approval. 

The law would also require parents to approve financial transactions connected to a child’s account and, for users under 13, would allow parents to view the accounts list of approved friends. 

This proposal is the latest step in my work to protect kids online; earlier this year, I passed the SAFE for Kids Act and the New York Child Data Protection Act, first-in-the-nation laws to protect children from addictive algorithms and predatory data collection on social media.

We can’t wait around for Big Tech to act. By mandating common sense measures to protect child safety, many of which have already been adopted by some social media platforms, this bill sends a clear message that we prioritize kids’ safety over profits.