Enacts the "fraudulent social media advertising prevention act"
A11066 would create a new article in New York’s General Business Law called the “Fraudulent Social-Media Advertising Prevention Act.” It applies to social-media platforms, online websites, mobile apps, and digital advertising networks that show paid third-party ads to users in New York. The bill requires platforms to verify advertiser identities before publishing ads, maintain a reasonable vetting process to screen ads for fraud or misleading claims, review linked landing pages and related content, and remove or disable ads that are reasonably suspected to be fraudulent or that are supported by credible evidence of fraud.
The bill also requires platforms to keep detailed records for at least five years and to file quarterly reports with the Attorney General describing ad review activity, removals, account suspensions, complaints, and improvements to fraud-prevention systems. The Attorney General would publish an annual public summary of compliance and enforcement actions. Violations would be treated as deceptive acts and practices under General Business Law section 349, allowing the Attorney General to seek injunctions, restitution, and civil penalties, and giving injured consumers a private right of action for damages and injunctive relief.
If enacted, the bill would expand New York consumer-protection law by imposing affirmative fraud-prevention duties on social-media and digital advertising platforms, rather than relying only on existing prohibitions against deceptive practices. It would add a new article to the General Business Law, define key terms such as platform, advertiser, and fraudulent advertisement, and create new compliance, recordkeeping, reporting, enforcement, and penalty provisions. The measure would affect platforms that serve ads to New York users regardless of where the company is based, and it would also create potential remedies for consumers harmed by fraudulent ads.
The bill’s stated purpose and structure suggest a strongly consumer-protection-oriented approach, with emphasis on protecting seniors, minors, and financially vulnerable users from scam advertising. Because there are no committee transcripts or recorded votes provided, there is no documented debate or formal vote history to indicate broader legislative sentiment. Based on the text alone, the bill appears designed to address a perceived and growing problem of online fraud and to place responsibility on platforms that profit from ad distribution.
The main likely points of contention are the scope of the duties imposed on platforms, the feasibility and cost of pre-publication review and identity verification, and whether the bill effectively makes platforms responsible for third-party speech and fraud. The bill’s requirement that platforms remove ads upon “reasonable suspicion” or “credible notice” may raise concerns about over-removal or operational burden, while the private right of action and per-ad penalties may be viewed by supporters as necessary enforcement tools and by critics as potentially exposing platforms to significant liability. The bill also extends to out-of-state platforms serving New York users, which could draw objections about extraterritorial reach and compliance complexity.