Requires social media companies to establish toll-free telephone number for NJ account holders to report fraudulent account actions.

A1659

ASSEMBLY, No. 1659

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman MITCHELLE DRULIS

District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)

Assemblyman ROY FREIMAN

District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)

Assemblywoman SHANIQUE SPEIGHT

District 29 (Essex and Hudson)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblymen Sampson, Karabinchak and Assemblywoman Lopez

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires social media companies to establish
toll-free telephone number for NJ account holders to report fraudulent account
actions.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act
requiring social media companies to establish a
toll-free telephone number and supplementing Title 56 of the Revised Statutes.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

����� 1.�� As
used in this act:

����� �New
Jersey account holder� means a New Jersey resident who has or who creates a
social media account on a social media platform.

����� �Social
media account� means a profile created by a person on a social media platform,
which contains personal information, including name, phone number, email, or
other identifying information.� �Account� also includes a profile created by a
person that only contains pictures or videos that the person owns and shares.

����� �Social
media company� means a person, business, or other legal entity and its agents,
assignees, or representatives that provides or operates a social media platform
with at least five million account holders worldwide.

����� �Social
media platform� or �platform� means a public or semipublic Internet-based
service or application that has users in this State, which service or
application:� (1) allows users to construct a public or semipublic social media
account for the purposes of using the platform, populate a list of other users
with whom the user shares a social connection through the platform, and post
content viewable by other users of the platform; and (2) is designed to connect
users within the platform to facilitate social interactions, except that a
service or application that provides email or direct messaging services shall
not be considered to meet this criterion solely based on the existence of that
functionality.� �Social media platform� shall not include an Internet-based
service or application for which interactions between users are solely related
to the provision of direct messages, commercial and financial transactions,
peer-to-peer payments, consumer engagement around products, product reviews,
sellers, services, events, or places, or any combination thereof, or an online
service, application, or website that consists primarily of news, sports,
entertainment, or other information or content that is not user generated but
is preselected by the provider and for which any chat, comments, or interactive
functionality is incidental to, directly related to, or dependent on the
provision of the content.

���� 2.� a.� A social media company
shall make available to New Jersey account holders a 24-hour toll-free
telephone number by which an account holder may contact a live customer service
representative of the social media company to report fraudulent activity on a
New Jersey account holder�s social media account, including, but not limited
to, unauthorized access.

���� b.� A social media company
shall publish the toll-free telephone number made available pursuant to
subsection a. of this section, and an explanation of the purpose of the
toll-free telephone number, on any email notifications of account security sent
to a New Jersey account holder and in a prominent location on the homepage or
help page of the social media platform.

����� 3.�� It
shall be an unlawful practice and a violation of P.L.1960, c.39 (C.56:8-1 et
seq.) for a social media company to fail to comply with any provision of
section 2 of this act.� Such violation shall be subject to all remedies and
penalties available pursuant to P.L.1960, c.39 (C.56:8-1 et seq.).

���� 4.� This act shall take effect
immediately.

STATEMENT

����
This bill requires a social media company to provide a
24-hour toll-free telephone number by which an account holder may contact a
live customer service representative of the social media company for the
purpose of reporting fraudulent activity, including, but not limited to,
unauthorized access to a social media account.� A social media company is also
required to publish the toll-free telephone number and an explanation of the
purpose of the toll-free telephone number on any email notifications of account
security sent to a New Jersey account holder and in a prominent location on the
social media platform�s homepage or help page.

����� It is an unlawful practice and a violation of the
consumer fraud act for a social media company to fail to comply with any
provision of this bill.� An unlawful practice under the consumer fraud act is
punishable by a monetary penalty of not more than $10,000 for a first offense
and not more than $20,000 for any subsequent offense.� In addition, a violation
can result in cease and desist orders issued by the Attorney General, the
assessment of punitive damages, and the awarding of treble damages and costs to
the injured party.