(TNND) — The New York Legislature has sent Gov. Kathy Hochul a bill to require warning labels on social media apps that lawmakers say have addictive features, such as infinite scroll.

New York is among a handful of states that are eyeing social media warning labels as a way to help safeguard youth mental health.

“They say sunlight is the best disinfectant, and knowledge is power. Social media warning labels enable users to make informed decisions about their own health,” New York state Sen. Andrew Gounardes, one of the bill’s sponsors, said in a news release.

The New York bill passed the state Senate last week and the Assembly on Tuesday.

“By requiring clear warning labels, we’re giving families the tools to understand the risks and pushing tech companies to take responsibility for the impact of their design choices,” co-sponsor Assemblywoman Nily Rozic said in the news release.

Minnesota recently passed a similar law.

The California Assembly passed a bill requiring social media platforms to display warnings. That bill is now in the state Senate.

The Texas House passed a social media warning labels bill.

And Colorado passed a related law that requires social media sites to display pop-up notifications about social media’s mental health impacts to users under 18.

Common Sense Media, an organization that advocates for online protections for children and teens, sponsored the New York legislation.

Common Sense Media founder and CEO Jim Steyer applauded its passage.

"Lawmakers' support for social media warning labels couldn't have come a moment too soon,” Steyer said in a statement. “With teens now spending close to five hours a day on social media, we owe it to families to provide clear, evidence-based information about the consequences of excessive use. When we learned alcohol could cause birth defects, we added warning labels for pregnant women. When nicotine was linked to cancer, we labeled every cigarette pack. It's time we took the same proven approach to social media — the latest addictive product that has kids hooked."

Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy called for warning labels on social media apps last year, saying young people who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms. And teenagers are easily exceeding that time on average.

A majority of teens use YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat, according to a survey last year from the Pew Research Center.

And teens are increasingly connected to the digital world, with 96% saying they're online daily and nearly half saying they’re online almost constantly.

The Pew Research Center also found that 95% of teens have access to a smartphone, nearly 40% said they spend too much time on their phones, and over 70% said they find happiness or peace when they aren’t tethered to their devices.

Common Sense Media previously found that teens get a median of 237 phone notifications, constantly being pinged and distracted in a way that impacts their mental health and other daily activities.

And Andrew Selepak, a social media expert who teaches at the University of Florida, previously told The National Desk that TikTok, with its robust algorithm and limitless scroll, might be the most addictive platform.

The New York bill noted “addictive design features” such as autoplay, algorithmic feeds, “like” counters, and push notifications.

The bill would require social media apps to display warning labels at the point of access. State mental health experts would be in charge of scripting the warning labels.

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The former surgeon general, in calling for the warning labels last year, cited a youth mental health “emergency.”

He said a warning label alone wouldn’t make social media safe for kids, but he said it’s a step in the right direction.

And youth mental health expert Katie Hurley agreed at the time.

Hurley, a licensed clinical social worker and the senior director of clinical advising and community programs at The Jed Foundation (JED), an organization focused on mental health for teens and young adults, told TNND that warning labels would be a valuable part of the public awareness effort about the potential harms of social media.

And they could help both parents and teens think twice before diving into social media content.

“It's a pause button,” she said.