New Jersey is moving to impose stronger safeguards on online platforms used by children, with new laws aimed at limiting addictive features, protecting minors’ privacy and giving parents more control over their children’s digital lives.
Governor Mikie Sherrill signed a package of three bills on August 11 as part of the state’s Kids’ Online Safety Agenda. The legislation includes the New Jersey Kids Code Act, which requires certain online services to design their products with the safety and well-being of minors in mind.
The new rules are intended to limit the ways technology companies can collect and use children’s data, expose young users to potentially harmful content, or design features intended to keep them continuously engaged.
The package also creates a Social Media Research Center at a New Jersey public university. The center will independently study the effects of social media on young people, including addictive features, emerging online risks and the broader impact of social media use on children.
Sherrill has framed the legislation as an effort to shift more responsibility onto technology companies rather than leaving parents to manage online risks on their own.
“For too long, Big Tech has run rampant in our kids’ lives, putting profits over our children,” Sherrill wrote Tuesday in a social media post promoting the initiative.
The legislation comes as states across the country increase pressure on major social media companies over the way their platforms affect children and teenagers.
New Jersey was also part of a recent multistate settlement with Meta over allegations involving harm to young users. Under that agreement, Meta agreed to introduce stronger protections for teenagers, including daily usage limits, overnight restrictions, disabled notifications during school hours and stronger age-assurance measures. New Jersey is expected to receive more than $500 million from the settlement, according to the governor’s office.
Sherrill said New Jersey intends to continue pressing other major technology companies to adopt similar protections.
Sources: Office of Governor Mikie Sherrill, New Jersey Kids’ Online Safety Package, Reuters
By NJ RADAR Team