October 4, 2025
New York is mandating that main social media apps disclose the amount of their hate speech and misinformation.
On Thursday, Oct. 2, New York Legal professional Normal Letitia James introduced the beginning of a brand new coverage that requires social media corporations to report their content material moderation insurance policies to the Workplace of the Legal professional Normal (OAG), as a part of the “Cease Hiding Hate” act.
Sponsored by Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assemblymember Grace Lee and signed into regulation by Governor Kathy Hochul, the laws mandates that platforms submit biannual reviews detailing how their insurance policies tackle hate speech, racism, misinformation, and different sorts of content material.
“With violence and polarization on the rise, social media corporations should be sure that their platforms don’t gasoline hateful rhetoric and disinformation,” James. stated. “The Cease Hiding Hate Act requires social media corporations to share their content material moderation insurance policies publicly and with my workplace to make sure that these corporations are extra clear about how they’re addressing dangerous content material on their platforms.”
Enacted in December 2024, the “Cease Hiding Hate” regulation holds social media corporations accountable by growing transparency round platform content material. It requires these corporations to submit biannual reviews to the OAG, detailing their phrases of service and explaining how they outline and tackle types of hate speech, racism, extremism, disinformation, harassment, and overseas political interference. Studies should additionally define enforcement practices, steps taken, and information on flagged or acted-upon content material.
The regulation targets social media corporations working in New York with over $100 million in annual income. Beginning Oct. 2, these corporations can submit their content material moderation reviews on-line, with a deadline of January 1.
“Whether or not in our communities or on-line, my prime precedence is maintaining New Yorkers secure,” stated Hochul. “Social media platforms needs to be a spot for folks to attach and share their pursuits—not a spot the place people can cover behind a keyboard to unfold hate speech or harass others. This laws builds on our efforts to enhance security on-line and marks an vital step to extend transparency and accountability.”
On-line hate speech contains prejudiced remarks primarily based on race, nationwide origin, ethnicity, gender, gender id, faith, incapacity, or sexual orientation. Research present that as much as one-third of web customers have encountered hate speech on-line, with the determine rising to round 50% throughout the on-line gaming neighborhood.
The rise of hate speech on social media is fueled by platform designs that prioritize emotionally charged content material, the creation of “echo chambers” that normalize hateful views, and the unfold of AI-generated disinformation. Though social media corporations keep insurance policies to fight hate speech, their effectiveness is debated, with latest analysis discovering a persistent spike in hate speech on X (previously Twitter) following its acquisition by Elon Musk.
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