(TheConservativeTimes.org) – The New York Governor, Kathy Hochul, has announced she plans to introduce a bill that would ban smartphones in schools. This is the latest legislative decision aimed at online safety for children.
Said Hochul, “I have seen these addictive algorithms pull in young people, literally capture them, and make them prisoners in a space where they are cut off from human connection, social interaction, and normal classroom activity.”
She said that the bill would launch later in the year and would come up in New York’s next legislative session. If the bill is passed, students would be allowed to carry simple phones that can’t access the internet and are only able to carry out phone calls or text messages. However, smartphones that could access the internet would be prohibited.
Hochil said, “Parents are very anxious about mass shootings in school.” She continued, “Parents want the ability to have some form of connection in an emergency situation.”
This bill is in conjunction with two other smartphone bills that Hochul is pushing, which would help to safeguard children on the internet and limit their access to certain features on social networks.
The Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation for Kids Act is aimed at algorithmic feeds. It says that social media accounts for children would display only the accounts they follow in chronological order instead of giving them suggested accounts. It would also mandate that parents have more controls like blocking access to night-time notifications or other abilities.
Letitia James, the New York attorney general said, “This legislation will protect children and serve as an example for other states and countries to follow. Together with our partners, we are going to do everything possible to see these bills passed into law.”
The second bill that Hochul is looking to pass is called the New York Child Data Protection Act, aimed at restricting the collection of data from children by online websites that have access to the child’s age.
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