S895A

The Senate passed the Social Media Disclosure and Transparency Act on a 47-15 roll call vote, with 15 Republicans voting in opposition. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Hoylman-Sigal and drafted with assistance from the Anti-Defamation League, requires social media companies to submit standardized reports twice yearly to the New York Attorney General detailing their content moderation efforts and terms of service. Sen. Hoylman-Sigal cited alarming statistics on rising online hate speech, noting a 38 percent increase since March 2020 and more than doubling of hateful content on Twitter since Elon Musk's takeover. He argued the legislation, modeled on California law, would provide crucial data to identify effective policies for combating toxic content. Hoylman-Sigal criticized social media companies for failing to self-regulate, citing an audit showing Twitter failed to act on 99 percent of reported hateful tweets while allowing hateful posts from a handful of accounts to generate $6.4 million in ad revenue. The bill takes effect 180 days after becoming law.