Enacts the "youth & teen internet safety and social media literacy act"; directs the commissioner of education to provide technical assistance to school districts for the development of curricula for such study of courses which shall be age appropriate and developed according to the needs and abilities of pupils at successive grade levels in order to provide awareness, skills, information, and support to aid in the safe usage of the internet, social media, and artificial intelligence.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8947
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
July 16, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SEAWRIGHT -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to establishing the
"youth & teen internet safety and social media literacy act"; and to
repeal certain provisions of law relating thereto
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 "youth & teen internet safety and social media literacy act".
3 § 2. Section 814 of the education law is REPEALED and a new section
4 814 is added to read as follows:
5 § 814. Courses of study in youth and teen internet safety and social
6 media literacy. 1. Any school district in the state may provide, to
7 pupils in grades kindergarten through twelve, instruction designed to
8 promote the proper and safe use of the internet, social media, and arti-
9 ficial intelligence.
10 2. The commissioner shall provide technical assistance to assist in
11 the development of curricula for such courses of study which shall be
12 age appropriate and developed according to the needs and abilities of
13 pupils at successive grade levels in order to provide awareness, skills,
14 information, and support to aid in the safe usage of the internet,
15 social media, and artificial intelligence.
16 3. (a) The commissioner shall develop age-appropriate resources and
17 technical assistance for schools to provide to students in grades six
18 through twelve and their parents or legal guardians concerning the safe
19 and responsible use of the internet, social media, and artificial intel-
20 ligence.
21 (b) Such resources shall include, but are not limited to:
22 (i) Time management and healthy behaviors on the internet and social
23 media;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13248-02-5
A. 8947 2
1 (ii) The negative effects of the internet and social media, including
2 addiction to social media;
3 (iii) The distribution of information on social media;
4 (iv) How social media can manipulate behavior;
5 (v) The permanency of sharing materials online;
6 (vi) How to use the internet and social media safely, including:
7 (A) Maintaining personal security;
8 (B) Preventing oversharing of personally identifiable information;
9 (C) Identifying cyberbullying, predatory behavior, and inappropriate
10 content; and
11 (D) How to report suspicious or criminal behavior encountered on
12 social media;
13 (vii) Copyright laws on written material, photographs, music, videos,
14 and other forms of media; and
15 (viii) The legal and non-legal consequences of sharing sexually
16 explicit content or materials whether online or in person.
17 4. (a) The commissioner shall develop age-appropriate resources and
18 technical assistance for schools to provide to students in grades three
19 through five and their parents or legal guardians concerning the safe
20 and responsible use of the internet, social media, and artificial intel-
21 ligence.
22 (b) These resources shall include but are not limited to:
23 (i) Time management and healthy behaviors on the internet and social
24 media;
25 (ii) The negative effects of the internet and social media, including
26 addiction to social media;
27 (iii) The distribution of information on social media;
28 (iv) How the internet, social media, and artificial intelligence can
29 manipulate behavior;
30 (v) The permanency of sharing materials online;
31 (vi) How to use the internet, social media, and artificial intelli-
32 gence safely, including:
33 (A) Maintaining personal security;
34 (B) Preventing oversharing of personally identifiable information;
35 (C) Identifying cyberbullying, predatory behavior, and inappropriate
36 content; and
37 (D) How to report suspicious or criminal behavior encountered on
38 social media; and
39 (vii) Copyright laws on written material, photographs, music, videos,
40 and other forms of media.
41 5. Courses of study pertaining to internet safety, social media liter-
42 acy, and artificial intelligence may be based on the peer-to-peer obser-
43 vational learning and modeling concepts.
44 § 3. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding
45 the date on which it shall have become a law.
