New Jersey’s new laws establish some of the strictest online protections for minors in the US, including a Kids Code Act and a pioneering research centre to address digital wellbeing.
New Jersey has enacted a package of child online safety laws that state officials say puts some of the strictest protections for minors in the United States on the books. Governor Mikie Sherrill signed the measures at the Boys and Girls Club of Hudson County in Jersey City, where legislators, advocates and children gathered to mark the move. The centrepiece is the New Jersey Kids Code Act, which requires the strongest default privacy settings for under-18 users and is designed to reduce the pressure on families to manage every platform setting themselves.
The law also takes aim at design choices that critics say encourage manipulation and overuse. Assemblywoman Andrea Katz, the prime sponsor, said social media companies rely on artificial intelligence systems that can surface children’s profiles to strangers. The broader aim, according to backers of the legislation, is to shift responsibility for online harm away from parents and on to the companies that build the platforms. The New Jersey Senate Democrats said the bill is part of a wider age-appropriate design code approach that requires services to adapt to children rather than treat them like adult users.
Alongside the privacy measure, Sherrill signed two additional laws that establish the state’s first social media research centre. It will be based at one of New Jersey’s four-year public colleges or universities and will examine the relationship between digital technology and children’s wellbeing. The state Office of the Secretary of Higher Education opened a request for proposals on Tuesday, with applications due by September 11 and the centre expected to begin work this autumn. Supporters say the research will help shape future policy with evidence rather than anecdote.
The announcement also reflected a broader push in state politics to address concerns about addictive design and youth mental health. In a statement, Assembly Speaker Craig J. Coughlin said children should not have to choose between growing up online and growing up healthy. Saahir Vazirani, an 18-year-old from Middlesex County and a member of the youth-led coalition Design It For Us, said the law shifts the burden of reducing online harm back on to platforms. Sherrill said New Jersey was stepping into a space left open after a federal kids’ safety measure collapsed in Congress despite clearing the US Senate.
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