NY Broadcasters, Publishers Back Legislation Requiring AI Bot Disclosure.

The New York State Senate and Assembly have passed legislation designed to protect broadcasters and newspaper publishers from what industry groups describe as deceptive AI-powered web crawlers that access news content without properly identifying themselves.

The measure, A.11292/S.9934A, would prohibit the use of so-called "stealth crawlers" that conceal their identities while accessing digital services operated by news organizations. Supporters say the practice has become increasingly problematic as AI companies and other technology firms seek to collect content used to train artificial intelligence systems.

According to industry advocates, news websites and broadcast operations are often inundated with millions of automated bot requests daily, creating operational burdens and increased costs while enabling third parties to access valuable journalism without authorization.

Diane Kennedy, president of the New York News Publishers Association, called the legislation a precedent-setting step toward protecting original journalism.

"News publishers invest substantial resources of labor, skill, and capital in producing original journalism," Kennedy said. "The proliferation of stealth crawlers — automated bots that access news sites without identifying themselves or disclosing their purposes — enables technology companies and other actors to access the fruits of that investment without consent or transparency."

Kennedy noted that the legislation would prohibit crawlers from disguising their identities when accessing covered news sources and establish a private right of action that would allow journalism providers to enforce the requirements.

Broadcasters also welcomed the measure.

David Donovan, president of the New York State Broadcasters Association, said the legislation would help safeguard the economic viability of local broadcast news operations.

"By protecting broadcast news operations from unauthorized access by Big Tech, the legislation ensures the economic foundations of producing original, local news by broadcast stations throughout the Empire State," Donovan said. "It prohibits using stealth crawlers to extract a broadcaster's news content without permission or payment."

The bill also requires AI systems to disclose when crawlers are being used to gather content from broadcasters, according to Donovan.

The legislation received praise from national publishing organizations as well.

Danielle Coffey, president and CEO of the News/Media Alliance, said publishers are increasingly grappling with bot traffic that can overwhelm websites while harvesting content.

"Right now, news websites are drowning in bot traffic," Coffey said. "Bad bots are disguising their identities to overload publisher servers and access the quality content on our sites, hurting our ability to serve readers."

She described the legislation as a "common-sense solution" that would improve transparency and accountability while giving publishers tools to protect their content and operations.

Industry leaders also credited the bill's sponsors, Assemblymember Steven Otis, chair of the Assembly Science and Technology Committee, and Senator Mike Gianaris, for advancing the proposal.

Kennedy, Donovan and Coffey said the legislation will help ensure New Yorkers continue to have access to original local journalism produced by newspapers and broadcast stations across the state.