Bill
S 4153
Prohibits social platforms from features that could cause eating disorders in child users; mandates quarterly audits, annual third-party review, and up to $250,000 per violation.
Status and timeline
- Introduced: February 3, 2025 (Senate).
- Enacted: Signed into law (Chapter 548) November 21, 2025.
- Effective date: Six months after enactment (approximately May 21, 2026).
- Legislative history: Passed both houses (substituted for A7929A / companion A7929), referred to committees and amended on third reading prior to final passage.
Purpose
- To prohibit social media platforms from using designs, algorithms, practices, affordances, or features that they know, or reasonably should have known, could cause child users to develop an eating disorder (examples cited include promoting diet products).
Key definitions (selected)
- Child user: anyone under 18 years of age who uses a social media platform.
- Content: broadly defined to include statements, photos, graphics, documents, etc., created/posted/shared on a platform (excludes files posted only for cloud storage or collaboration).
- Social media platform: a public or semi‑public internet service with users in New Jersey whose primary function is connecting users for social interaction and that allows user profiles, public friend lists, and user-posted content (excludes services that are primarily news/entertainment/ecommerce or internal enterprise communications).
Main requirements and mechanisms
- Prohibition: Platforms may not use features or systems that they know or should have known could cause eating disorders in child users.
- Compliance safe harbors: A platform will not be treated as violating the prohibition if it either:
- Implements and maintains an internal audit program that (i) performs quarterly internal reviews of practices/algorithms/designs/features for risks of causing or contributing to eating disorders in child users; (ii) commissions an annual independent third‑party audit; and (iii) if an audit finds a problematic practice/feature, takes corrective action within 30 calendar days of audit completion and notification; or
- Is majority‑controlled by a business entity that generated less than $100 million in gross revenue in the preceding calendar year.
- Liability exclusions: The law does not impose liability on platforms for user‑generated content (except where the content was paid for by the platform, e.g., ads), content passively displayed but created solely by a third party, content the platform did not create/develop, or content otherwise protected by 47 U.S.C. §230, the First Amendment, or the State Constitution.
Enforcement and penalties
- Civil penalties: Up to $250,000 per violation, recoverable through a civil action under the Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999. Superior and municipal courts have jurisdiction to enforce penalties.
Who is affected
- Large and mid‑sized social media platforms with users in New Jersey (platforms with < $100M parent revenues are exempt from the principal liability standard).
- Indirectly affects children under 18, parents, health advocates, advertisers, and platform designers/engineers (due to audit and modification requirements).
Practical implications and considerations
- Platforms may need to expand compliance, auditing, and product‑safety procedures to identify features that could contribute to disordered eating among minors and to document corrective actions.
- The law relies on terms like “could cause” and “reasonable care should have known,” which may require legal interpretation and could generate regulatory or judicial review in implementation.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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