STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5703--B
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 13, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sen. PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Consumer Protection --
recommitted to the Committee on Consumer Protection in accordance with
Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to prohibiting the
use of social media platforms for the purposes of collecting debts
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 601 of the general business law is amended by
2 adding a new subdivision 12 to read as follows:
3 12. Use a social media platform as a means to collect on a consumer
4 claim from a debtor. For purposes of this subdivision, "social media
5 platform" means a public or semi-public internet-based service or appli-
6 cation that has users in New York state that meets the following crite-
7 ria:
8 (a) a substantial function of the service or application is to connect
9 users in order to allow users to interact socially with each other with-
10 in the service or application. A service or application that provides
11 e-mail or direct messaging services shall not be considered to meet
12 this criterion on the basis of that function alone; and
13 (b) the service or application allows individuals to: (i) construct a
14 public or semi-public profile for purposes of signing up and using the
15 service or application; (ii) create a list of other users with whom they
16 share a connection within the system; and (iii) create or post content
17 viewable or audible by other users, including, but not limited to,
18 livestreams, on message boards, in chat rooms, or through a landing page
19 or main feed that presents the user with content generated by other
20 users.
21 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01176-05-4
