Prohibits social media platforms from using certain practices or features that cause child users to become addicted to platform.

S4035

SENATE, No. 4035

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MARCH 19, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� JOSEPH F. VITALE

District 19 (Middlesex)

SYNOPSIS

���� Prohibits social media platforms from using certain
practices or features that cause child users to become addicted to platform.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
prohibiting the use of certain addictive practices or
features by social media platforms 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 P.L. ,
c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill):

���� �Addict� means to knowingly,
recklessly, or negligently cause addiction through any act or omission or any
combination of acts or omissions.

���� �Addiction� means the use of
one or more social media platforms, the use of which: �

���� a.���� indicates preoccupation
or obsession with, or withdrawal or difficulty to cease or reduce the use of, a
social media platform despite the child user�s desire to cease or reduce such
use; and

���� b.��� causes physical, mental,
emotional, developmental, or material harm to the child user.

���� �Child user� means a person
who is younger than 18 years of age and uses one or more social media
platforms.

���� �Content� means any
statements, materials, documents, photographs, graphics, or other information
that is created, posted, shared, or otherwise transmitted on a social media
platform, except that �content� does not include any information that is posted
online exclusively for the purpose of cloud storage, transmitting documents, or
file collaboration.

���� �Public or semi-public
internet-based service or application� excludes any internet-based service or
application that is used to facilitate communication within a business or
enterprise among employees or affiliates of the business or enterprise,
provided that access to the service or application is restricted to employees
or affiliates of the business or enterprise using the service or application.

���� �Social media platform� or
�platform� means a public or semi-public internet-based service or application
that has users in this State, which service or application:�

���� a.���� allows users to
construct a public or semipublic profile 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

���� b.��� 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.

���� 2.��� a.� Except as otherwise
provided in this section, a social media platform shall not use any practice,
design, feature, or affordance that the platform knew, or which by the exercise
of reasonable care should have known, would cause child users to become addicted
to the platform.

���� b.��� A social media platform
shall not be deemed to violate the provisions of subsection a. of this section
if:

���� (1)�� the social media platform
demonstrates that the platform:�

���� (a)�� instituted and
maintained an audit program in which the platform: �(i) conducts quarterly
audits of its practices, designs, features, and affordances to determine
whether these practices, designs, features, or affordances cause, have the
potential to cause, or contribute to the addiction of child users to the
platform; and (ii) hires an independent third party to conduct an annual audit
of its practices, designs, features, or affordances to determine whether these
practices, designs, features, or affordances cause, have the potential to
cause, or contribute to the addition of child users to the platform; and

���� (b)�� if an audit determines
that any practice, design, feature, or affordance used by the platform causes,
has the potential to cause, or contributes to the addiction of child users, the
platform has corrected the practice, design, feature, or affordance within 30
calendar days of the completion of the audit;

���� (2)�� the social media
platform is controlled by a business entity that generated less than $100
million in gross revenue during the preceding calendar year; or

���� (3)�� the primary function of
the social media platform is to enable users to play video games.

���� c.���� Nothing in this section
shall be construed to impose liability on a social media platform for:�

���� (1)�� any content that is
generated, uploaded, or shared on the social media platform by a user of the
platform;

���� (2)�� any content that is
created solely by a third party and passively displayed by the social media
platform;

���� (3)�� any information or
content for which the social media platform was not, in whole or in part,
responsible for creating or developing; and

���� (4)�� any conduct involving
child users that would otherwise be protected by 47 U.S.C. s.230, the First
Amendment of the United States Constitution, or Article I, paragraph 6 of the
State Constitution.

���� d.��� A social media platform
that violates the provisions of subsection a. of this section shall be liable
for a civil penalty, not to exceed $250,000 per violation, to be collected in a
civil action by a summary proceeding under the "Penalty Enforcement Law of
1999," P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.).� The Superior Court and the
municipal court shall have jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of the "Penalty
Enforcement Law of 1999" pursuant to this subsection.

���� 3.��� This act shall take
effect on the first day of the third month following the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

���� This bill prohibits a social
media platform from using any practice, design, feature, or affordance that would
cause child users to become addicted to the platform.� Under the bill, a social
media platform would be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $250,000 for
each violation.

���� However, if a social media
platform implements an audit program and corrects certain addictive practices,
the platform would not be deemed to violate the provisions of the bill.�
Specifically, the social media platform would be required to conduct quarterly
audits, and hire an independent third party to conduct an annual audit, to
determine whether any of its practices, designs, features, or affordances would
cause, have the potential to cause, or contribute to the addiction of child
users to the platform.� If so, the social media platform would also be required
to correct the practice, design, feature, or affordance within 30 calendar days
of the completion of the audit.

���� Additionally, certain social
media platforms would not be subject to the requirements of the bill.� These
social media platforms would include any platform that is controlled by a
business entity that generated less than $100 million in gross revenue during
the preceding calendar year, or any platform whose primary function is to
enable users to play video games.

���� The bill also clarifies that
social media platforms would not be subject to liability under this bill for: �(1)
any content generated, uploaded, or shared by users of the platform; (2) any
content that is created by third-party entities and passively displayed by the
platform; (3) any information or content for which the platform was not
responsible for creating and developing; and (4) any conduct involving child
users that would otherwise be protected under certain federal law, the First
Amendment of the United States Constitution, or Article I, paragraph 6 of the
State Constitution.