New York has passed a law targeting AI bots that secretly scrape news sites. The legislation aims to protect publishers from hidden crawlers. Media leaders say it will help defend original journalism.
New York State has approved new legislation designed to shield news publishers from hidden AI bots that secretly access and extract content from their digital platforms. The law, known as the 'New York Stealth Crawler Prohibition Act,' directly targets so-called 'stealth crawlers'—automated bots that disguise their identities to bypass detection and overwhelm news websites with unauthorized traffic.
For years, local newspapers and broadcasters have reported being inundated by millions of bot visits daily, often from AI systems seeking to harvest original reporting without consent or transparency. Industry leaders say this practice strains publisher infrastructure and undermines the value of their journalism.
Danielle Coffey, president and CEO of the News/Media Alliance, said the new law will give publishers practical tools to identify and block deceptive bots, helping them maintain server stability and continue serving readers. Diane Kennedy, president of the New York News Publishers Association, emphasized that the legislation creates a private right of action, allowing journalism providers to enforce the requirement that crawlers must disclose their identity and purpose when accessing news content.
David Donovan, president of the New York State Broadcaster Association, noted that the law also requires AI systems to disclose when they deploy crawlers to extract content from broadcasters. He said this measure is intended to protect the economic foundation of local news production by ensuring that technology companies cannot access broadcast news content without permission or payment.
The bill was sponsored by Assemblyperson Steven Otis and Senator Mike Gianaris, who were thanked by media leaders for their efforts to support local journalism. The move comes as publishers in other regions are also seeking stronger protections against unauthorized content scraping, as seen in recent regulatory actions in the UK, where news publishers have gained leverage through new rules targeting search platforms.
