STATEWIDE — SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES MUST START REPORTING THEIR CONTENT MODERATION POLICIES TO THE OFFICE OF THE NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL, ACCORDING TO A NEW LAW.
Attorney General Letitia James announced on Thursday, Oct. 2 that the law, which Gov. Kathy Hochul signed last Dec. 23, and which took effect June 23, requires platforms to submit biannual reports on whether and how their existing policies deal with hate speech, racism, misinformation and other types of content. The law applies to any social media company operating in New York that generates over $100 million in gross annual revenue.
Key requirements of the “Stop Hiding Hate” Act include: Public Transparency, User Reporting and Action & Response. Biannual reports, the first of which is due on Jan. 1, 2026, must provide specifics on the total number of posts flagged as potential policy violations; total number of posts on which the company took action; and details on the specific actions taken.
Social media companies that fail to post their terms of service, submit a required report, or file a materially incomplete or misleading report may face a civil penalty of up to $15,000 per violation per day.
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