N.Y. General Business Law § 1539: Definitions

* § 1539. Definitions. For the purposes of this article, the following

terms shall have the following meanings:

1. "Connected" and variations thereof shall mean that two users using

the covered platform or two accounts on the covered platform are

connected to each other by:

(a) sending a request to connect to another user or account holder and

having the request to connect accepted by the other user or account

holder; or

(b) receiving a request to connect from another user or account holder

and accepting the request to connect.

2. "Covered minor" shall mean any user in New York who has been

reasonably determined by an operator, via age assurance, as set forth in

this article, to be under the age of eighteen.

3. "Operator" shall mean any person, business, or other legal entity

who operates or provides a covered platform.

4. "Parent" shall mean a parent or legal guardian.

5. "Tag" shall mean when a user clearly identifies a second user in

posted media.

6. "User" shall mean a user of a covered platform not acting as an

operator, or agent or affiliate of such operator, of such platform or

any portion thereof.

7. "Covered user" shall mean a user of a covered platform in New York

not acting as an operator, agent or affiliate of such operator, of such

platform or of any portion thereof.

8. "Money" shall mean a medium of exchange currently authorized or

adopted by a domestic or foreign government.

9. "Digital currency" shall mean a digital representation of value,

recognized only on the covered platform, that is supplied, exchanged and

managed pursuant to the policies or rules of such covered platform, and

is not accepted or considered a medium of exchange currently authorized

or adopted by a domestic or foreign government.

10. "AI companion" shall have the same meaning as subdivision four of

section seventeen hundred of this chapter; provided, however, that an

"AI companion" shall not include an artificial intelligence system or

non-player character that operates exclusively within a game or

immersive digital environment, provided that such system's interactions

are strictly constrained to the fictional context of such game or

environment and do not initiate, encourage, or sustain dialogue

concerning the user's real-world life, emotional state, or personal

affairs.

11. "Integrated AI companion" shall mean an AI companion that is an

accessible or usable feature of a covered platform.

12. "Covered platform" shall mean a public or semi-public website,

online service, online application, or mobile application that:

(a) is used by a covered minor in this state;

(b) allows users to construct a public or semi-public profile for the

purposes of using such website, service, or application; and

(c) offers or provides the following features:

(i) a mechanism to allow users to communicate privately with each

other within the website, service or application or through platform

integration with a separate website, service, or application; and

(ii) (A) a mechanism to create or post media that is viewable by other

users and a mechanism to respond to such media, including but not

limited to, through a landing page or feed that presents the user with

media created or posted by other users; or

(B) a mechanism: (1) to create games or immersive digital environments

for other users or to play online games; and (2) to make in game

purchases using money or to exchange money for digital currency as well

as to exchange digital currency for money.

13. "Media" shall mean text, an image or a video. Games and immersive

digital environments are not media.

14. "Age assurance" shall mean reasonable and technically feasible

methods to determine the age of a user, made consistent with subdivision

one of section fifteen hundred forty of this article.

15. "Syncing" shall mean when a user imports existing connections or

contact information pertaining to other users into a covered platform.

16. "Platform integration" shall mean any form of linking a user's

account on a covered platform with the user's account on one or more

different covered platforms.

* NB Effective January 1, 2027