TRENTON – New Jersey Kids Code Coalition advocates celebrated as the New Jersey Kids Code (S3413) passed the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee with a decisive vote of three Senators in favor and one opposed.

“As a young person, it’s exciting to see Kids Code bills that aim to protect the youth experience online through safeguards against addictive algorithms gain support in so many states, including New Jersey,” said the Young People’s Alliance’s Hannah Elder, who testified at the hearing. “New Jersey legislators’ action on this bill proves young people’s voices are becoming increasingly welcomed at the table where the decisions affecting us are made. We are both ready and excited to continue taking action and bringing about change towards a better, safer future.”

The New Jersey Kids Code would require online products and services to provide safety-by-design and privacy-by-default protections for known minors, aligning with Governor Mikie Sherrill’s kids’ online safety agenda. New Jersey joins a growing number of states in embracing its design-centered legislative approach.

“Parents across New Jersey are fed up with social media companies knowingly exploiting children’s attention and mental health for profit. We need state lawmakers to take action to protect technology’s most vulnerable users: our kids,” said Julie Scelfo, executive director of Mothers Against Media Addiction (MAMA). “The New Jersey Kids Code would legally obligate social media companies to stop using addictive design features to target minors and require the highest level of privacy protections for children by default. We are grateful to Senators Mukherji, Greenstein, Bucco, Beach, and Moriarty for sponsoring this crucial bill, and we urge the Legislature to pass it at the earliest opportunity. New Jersey families can’t afford to wait while Big Tech continues to profit from our children’s suffering.” 

Community advocates including Erin Popolo of South Brunswick, who lost her daughter Emily to online harms, young people, parents, educators, and medical professionals shared powerful testimony in support of the bills. An audio recording of today’s Senate committee hearing may be found here, and an audio recording of February’s Assembly Science, Innovation and Technology committee hearing where companion Kids Code bill A4015 passed unanimously may be found here.

A floor vote in the Senate is expected as the next step for the bill. To learn more about the New Jersey Kids Code Coalition, visit https://kidscodecoalition.org/new-jersey/. 

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