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A 4643

Relates to removing an unsupervised or unattended minor from a motor vehicle

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Angelo Morinello

Criminalizes child endangerment via electronic communications (social media); caregivers face 5-10 years, others 3-5; excludes certain online service providers from liability.

HELD FOR CONSIDERATION IN TRANSPORTATION
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Bill Summary · A 4643

Summary — A4643 (1R): Child Endangerment via Use of Social Media

Main purpose

To amend New Jersey’s child endangerment statute (N.J.S.2C:24-4) to make it a crime to use electronic communications — including social media and social networking websites — to knowingly act in a manner likely to be injurious to the physical, mental, or moral welfare of a child under 18, or to direct/authorize a child to engage in an occupation posing substantial risk to the child’s life or health.

The sponsor’s stated intent is to provide law enforcement an additional tool to hold accountable persons who exploit children via social media postings (including opportunists who consume or profit from such content).

Key provisions

  • Adds a new paragraph to N.J.S.2C:24-4 establishing child endangerment via “electronic communication.”
  • Definition (as used in the paragraph): “electronic communication” includes, but is not limited to, communications made by means of an Internet website, such as social media and social networking websites.
  • Criminal penalties:
    • If the actor has a legal duty to care for the child or has assumed responsibility for the child: crime of the second degree — imprisonment 5–10 years, fine up to $150,000, or both.
    • For other persons: crime of the third degree — imprisonment 3–5 years, fine up to $15,000, or both.
  • Committee amendments clarify that “electronic communications” does NOT include:
    • An interactive computer service as defined under federal law (47 U.S.C. §230), and
    • Providers of telecommunications or information services as defined under federal law (47 U.S.C. §153).
  • Existing provisions in the statute addressing sexual exploitation and distribution/possession of child sexual abuse material remain in place; the bill adds the electronic-communication pathway to criminal liability for endangering children.

Who is affected

  • Individuals who post, transmit, or otherwise use electronic communications/social media in a manner that knowingly subjects a child (<18) to physical, mental, or moral harm, or directs a child into a dangerous occupation.
  • Caregivers or persons responsible for a child face elevated (second-degree) penalties.
  • Internet platforms qualifying as “interactive computer services” under §230 and common telecom/information providers are explicitly excluded from liability under the bill.

Fiscal and administrative impact

  • Office of Legislative Services (OLS) estimates indeterminate annual increases in State and local expenditures and indeterminate State revenue increases. The number of prosecutions is uncertain, so costs cannot be precisely quantified.
  • Agencies potentially affected: Department of Law & Public Safety, county prosecutors, Judiciary, Office of the Public Defender, Department of Corrections, State Parole Board.
  • OLS notes average FY2024 DOC cost per incarcerated person ≈ $75,254 annually; marginal housing cost ≈ $11.39/day. State parole marginal supervision cost ≈ $3,886 annually.
  • Fine revenues are possible but collection is historically limited.

Procedural status (selected)

  • Introduced in Assembly: 2024-06-25
  • Passed Assembly: 2025-06-30 (78–0–0)
  • Reported out of Assembly Committee with amendments: 2025-06-26
  • Transferred to Assembly Budget Committee: 2025-06-26
  • Referred / Held in Transportation Committee at various points in 2025
  • Received in Senate and referred to Senate Judiciary: 2025-10-20

Sponsors and related legislation

  • Primary sponsor: Assemblymember Angelo J. Morinello
  • Companion: S4745
  • Prior-session related bills: A7761, A5615, A4614, A4327, A2366

This bill expands the statutory means of prosecuting child endangerment to cover harmful conduct committed via social media while preserving federal §230 protections for qualifying online service providers.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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